Schiavo autopsy rattles politicians
By Anne KornblutWashingtonJune 17, 2005

The autopsy on Terri Schiavo
- particularly the findings that she had irreversible brain damage and was blind - has left Republicans who had pushed for federal intervention struggling to defend their argument that she should have been kept alive.

Although the autopsy could not determine the mental state of the Florida woman, who died on March 31 after a judicial and legislative battle over her "right to die", it established the permanence of her physical condition.

Mrs Schiavo's brain damage "was irreversible . . . no amount of treatment or rehabilitation would have reversed it", said the pathologist who performed the autopsy.

Republican senator Mel Martinez, who pressed the case to extend Mrs Schiavo's life, said he had had second thoughts about Congress' involvement.

Senator Martinez said the case "seems like the kind of issue the state courts deal with".

Mike Pence, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, said that in his five years in office, he saw Congress do its "worst job communicating" during the Schiavo episode.

The case has reverberated politically for months, contributing to a sharp drop in approval ratings for the Republican-controlled Congress, whose leaders convened an extraordinary emergency session in March to pass legislation protecting Mrs Schiavo.

The case has also given Democrats ammunition against Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a transplant surgeon who voiced his opinion about Mrs Schiavo's condition based on videotapes in which she seemed to react to some stimuli.

- New York Times, Washington Post
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Schiavo-autopsy-rattles-politicians/2005/06/16/1118869040714.html