Terri Schiavo, the critically brain-damaged Florida woman at the center of a national debate over end-of-life care, has died.

TERRI SCHIAVO, 1963-2005 Fact Sheet: Terri Schiavo 2005 Statement: Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush Overview: Living Wills Link: Terri-Schindler-Schiavo Foundation Schiavo Case: Legal Documents

Schiavo, 41, was administered last rites March 18, the same day her feeding tube was removed on a court order sought by her husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo. She also received Easter communion more than a week later.

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Live Video: Schiavo News Conference

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Schiavo had been in a persistent vegetative state since she collapsed in 1990 after a potassium imbalance caused her heart to temporarily stop, cutting off oxygen to her brain, according to court-ordered physicians.

Terri Schiavo's care has been at the center of a protracted and acrimonious legal battle between her husband, and her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

In 1992, Michael Schiavo won a malpractice lawsuit that accused doctors of misdiagnosing his wife. A jury awarded more than $700,000 for her care, and Michael Schiavo received an additional $300,000.

The following year, he and the Schindlers had a falling out over how the money ought to be spent, setting in motion a nonstop battle in the Florida courts and Legislature, then the U.S. Congress and federal courts, over Terri Schiavo's fate.

Michael Schiavo had long maintained that his wife never wanted to be kept alive by artificial means. His position was consistently upheld in the courts.

Over the years, the Schindlers' lawyers also unsuccessfully challenged Michael Schiavo's standing as Terri Schiavo's legal guardian. The family also hired doctors who unsuccessfully challenged those who diagnosed that the woman was in a persistent vegetative state.

Schiavo's death is unlikely to end the feuding between her family and her husband, because the two sides also can't agree on what should happen to her body after death.

Her parents had asked a court to allow Terri Schiavo to be buried in Florida with her body intact. But the judge refused to intervene in Michael Schiavo's plans to have Terri cremated and interred in their native Pennsylvania.

The Schindlers also wanted to take photographs and video of their daughter before she died, but Michael Schiavo opposed it and a judge agreed with him.

George Felos, the attorney for Michael Schiavo, said this week that the chief medical examiner for Pinellas County had agreed to perform an autopsy. He said Michael Schiavo wants definitive proof showing the extent of the brain damage.

"After an extraordinarily difficult and tragic journey, Terri Schiavo is at rest. Columba and I offer our condolences to Mr. and Mrs. Schindler, Bobby Schindler, Suzanne Vitadamo and to all those who offered their prayers and support to Terri's family over these past weeks, months and years," Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said. "These prayers were not in vain."

"Many across our state and around the world are deeply grieved by the way Terri died," Bush said. "I feel that grief very sharply as well. I remain convinced, however, that Terri's death is a window through which we can see the many issues left unresolved in our families and in our society"

Activists Sing, Pray After Schiavo's Death

Protesters who had been keeping vigil outside Terri Schiavo's hospice began praying, singing and hugging each other upon hearing that she died Thursday.

Protesters streamed into Pinellas Park, Fla., before her feeding tube was removed. Their numbers grew as her ordeal lengthened -- and dozens were arrested at the site, including some who tried to bring her water.

One woman who was outside the hospice Thursday said "Words cannot express the rage I feel." She added "Is my heart broken for this? Yes."

Other protesters could be heard singing hymns and praying with each other outside the hospice.

Entire Schindler Family Fought For Terri

The effort to keep Terri Schiavo alive was a family quest for her parents and siblings.

Bob and Mary Schindler, who are described by their spiritual adviser as "quiet, introverted people," stayed across the street from the hospice where Terri Schiavo lived in Pinellas Park, Fla. That made it easier to visit her, and to speak to reporters.

Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, took a break from his job as a teacher at a private Catholic high school. And sister Suzanne Vitadamo was usually at her mother's side.

Bobby said his father, now 68, was the backbone of the family's fight. But a family friend says it's taken a toll. She said Bob Schindler "looks like he's aged at least 10 years since 2002."

Family and friends worry about his health.

Long Legal Battle

It was a saga that spurred lots of people to get their final wishes on paper, in living wills.

For many of the 15 years Terri Schiavo spent on a feeding tube, there was a seemingly constant battle between her parents and her husband.

Schiavo was a thin 26-year-old woman living in Florida in 1990. But she had grown up chubby, trying desperately to lose weight.

When she collapsed at her home in February of 1990, it may have been from a potassium imbalance caused by an eating disorder. It temporarily stopped her heart and cut off oxygen to her brain -- leaving her in what many doctors called a persistent vegetative state.

Her husband said she never wanted to live like that, and began trying several years later to remove the tube keeping her alive. But her parents said she wouldn't have wanted to die -- and set off a legal battle that raged for years.

She had left no record saying what option she'd prefer.