It would seem that the Schindlers and their supporters are the ones now who are reticent about the autopsy. Using Dana's logic, I wonder what they are trying to hide?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6324-2005Mar28.html?sub=AR Since the site requires a login: washingtonpost.com Schiavo's Husband and Parents Now Battling Over Autopsy Plan By Manuel Roig-Franzia and Mike Allen Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, March 29, 2005; Page A03 PINELLAS PARK, Fla., March 28 -- The war over Terri Schiavo, once tightly focused on whether she would live or die, shifted at times Monday to arguments over how her body will be examined. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, wants an autopsy in hopes of proving the severity of her brain damage. Her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, want a medical examination to answer questions about their suspicions that Michael Schiavo may have broken her bones in what they say may have been an attack that caused her brain injury, an allegation that was previously made. Michael Schiavo and his attorneys have vehemently denied the accusation, saying doctors believe Schiavo's brain injury was caused by a lack of oxygen after a heart attack. The dueling plans for examining Terri Schiavo's body were announced Monday as protesters carried crucifixes into Lafayette Square across from the White House, then visited three congressional offices to pressure lawmakers to intervene again in the case. But their pleas are unlikely to yield action: The House Government Reform Committee, which had issued a subpoena for Schiavo to appear at a hearing at her hospice, has withdrawn the subpoena, and House officials said another will not be issued. Nonetheless, House officials met with protesters and assured them that lawmakers will inquire into the broader issues raised by the case. The political realm is the last hope for the Schindlers, who have ended their legal fight to have their daughter's feeding tube reinserted after state and federal courts repeatedly rejected their case. Robert Schindler and his supporters urged Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) to step into the case Monday, as they have for days, even though courts have ruled that the governor does not have authority to take custody of Schiavo. "I plead again with the powers that be, don't give up on her," Schindler said after visiting his daughter. Bush told reporters Monday that he has no more options. "I have not seen any means by which the executive branch can get involved," he said. "My heart is broken about this." With political and legal options for the Schindlers to force their daughter's feeding to be resumed vanishing fast, talk increasingly has turned to what will happen when she is gone. Jon R. Thogmartin, chief medical examiner of Pinellas County, will perform an autopsy immediately after she dies, said George Felos, attorney for Michael Schiavo. The results will be released to the public at Michael Schiavo's request, he said. "He believes it is important to have the public know the full and massive extent of the damage to Mrs. Schiavo's brain," Felos said. Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry, a spokesman for Schiavo's parents, said the Schindlers have not requested an autopsy and prefer not to talk about the procedure because they are still hoping for a last-minute miracle to keep their daughter alive. Instead, Terry said, the family wants her to be examined to determine whether Michael Schiavo attacked her. Terry called the autopsy "a way to cover [Michael Schiavo's] behind." The two sides have been unable to agree on almost anything, and again gave different accounts of Terri Schiavo's condition. Schindler compared his daughter to a concentration camp victim, saying, "You can visualize in your mind how they came out, when their faces are all sunken in and their eyes were bulging -- that's how Terri looks. "I was scared to death to go in there to see her." But Felos described a placid scene inside Woodside Hospice, where protesters have camped outside since Schiavo's feeding tube was removed March 18. "Soft, soothing" music was playing when Felos visited her Monday afternoon, he said, and there was a stuffed animal tucked under her arm. "She looked very peaceful," he said. "She looked very calm. . . . I saw no evidence of any bodily discomfort." Felos also said that Schiavo has stopped urinating -- a possible indicator of impending death -- and that her pulse had become "thready." Schiavo has received two 50-milligram doses of morphine since her feeding tube was removed in response to undisclosed symptoms, which Felos did not describe in detail. He said it does not appear "that her death is imminent. But it's just impossible to say." Sheri Payne, a longtime friend of Schiavo's, disputed the diagnoses of court-appointed doctors who say Schiavo is in an irreversible vegetative state. After an afternoon visit, Payne said that Schiavo can comprehend speech, and said that her friend flung her arms into the air when Payne mentioned dancing. In Washington, the staffs of Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) were planning to work on a bill that would require a federal court review when families have disputes about a patient who did not leave written instructions about end-of-life wishes. But with polls showing heavy majorities opposed to the rare Palm Sunday intervention by Congress on March 20, Republican congressional aides said the party does not plan to dwell on feeding-tube issues. Instead, when lawmakers return next week from a two-week recess, they plan to move ahead with the budget, energy and highway bills, and with changes to bankruptcy law. But the Schiavo case persisted in sending ripples through Washington. The office of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) -- a leading supporter of the bill Congress passed to shift control of Schiavo's case to the federal courts -- was inundated with calls about a Los Angeles Times report that said he and his family decided in 1988 not to begin dialysis that might have kept his father, Charles Ray DeLay, alive after a head injury. Dan Allen, DeLay's spokesman, said the Schiavo situation is "far different" from DeLay's. "His dad was in a coma," Allen said. "Terri Schiavo is awake and was only receiving food and water through a feeding tube." Allen reported from Washington. 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