| Schiavo autopsy results reach a divided Congress By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — There were few public regrets in Congress on Wednesday about its extraordinary effort to keep Terri Schiavo alive. "None whatsoever," said Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., when asked whether he had second thoughts after autopsy results released Wednesday showed that Schiavo had been beyond hope of recovery. "Where a state court tries to take the life of somebody, there should be a federal review," said Santorum. He flew to Florida to pray with Schiavo's parents at her bedside during her last days. Conservative lawmakers, led by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, joined Schiavo's parents and their supporters in March in their fight to prolong her life over the objections of her husband Michael. The controversy evoked emotional rhetoric: DeLay called the court-ordered removal of Schiavo's feeding tube an "act of barbarism." After repeated rulings by Florida state courts that would have allowed the husband to have the feeding tube removed, Congress voted to give the federal judiciary jurisdiction to review the case. President Bush signed the bill, but federal courts refused to intervene. Schiavo died March 31. The autopsy said she had irreversible brain damage, was blind and couldn't respond to visual stimulus. (Related story: Autopsy finds no signs of abuse) Although the Republicans involved in the case rejected suggestions by some Democrats that they were imprudent for stepping in, at least one senator said he had a partial change of heart. "I've had second thoughts as to whether a federal review was the right way to go or not," said Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla. His former legal counsel admitted writing a memo touting the political gains Republicans could make from the case. But, Martinez added, "it's always good to err on the side of giving someone a chance. I never really did any of this because I had on my mind that she was going to heal one day, although I didn't know." The Democrats said the medical findings confirmed that Congress and Bush should never have tried to get the federal judiciary to overrule state court rulings. "It's rare that you get such a total repudiation of one side," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. He said it underlined that "all these politicians pretending to practice medicine, including one doctor pretending to practice medicine" — a reference to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist — were driven by "ideology and partisanship." Frist, a surgeon, had questioned a court ruling that Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state. He said he based his assessment on watching "an hour or so" of video in which the woman appeared to respond to stimulus. Frist did not respond to reporters' questions Wednesday as he entered his office, saying he hadn't read the pathology report. His spokeswoman, Amy Call, said he had never made a diagnosis. The autopsy results "only confirm the discontent of a lot of people with Congress and the president getting involved," said Andrew Kohut of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. The autopsy "reaffirms that these kinds of heart-wrenching, end-of-life decisions should not be made in an emotionally charged political body like" Congress, said Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Fla. DeLay was mum. His spokesman, Dan Allen, issued a statement saying DeLay's "thoughts and prayers remain with the friends and family of Terri Schiavo." | 
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