LARGO, Fla. -- A lawyer for Michael Schiavo says the autopsy results on Schiavo's brain-damaged wife back up what he's been saying for years.

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Video: Trauma Ruled Out In Schiavo Autopsy | Michael Schiavo 'Pleased' To Hear Autopsy Results
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Attorney George Felos pointed out that the doctors who performed the autopsy concluded that the results released Wednesday were "very consistent" with a persistent vegetative state. He said that confirms what Michael Schiavo had been saying -- that his wife had no hope of recovery.

Felos also pointed to the finding that Terri Schiavo was blind. He said this refutes the claims by the woman's parents that she was able to see them and react to them.

And, Felos said, the autopsy confirmed that Terri Schiavo hadn't been physically abused. He said Michael Schiavo is "pleased" to hear the "hard science."

He also said Schiavo plans to release autopsy photos of his wife's brain, which doctors said had atrophied to the point that it was just half of normal size.

Autopsy Report Doesn't Convince Schiavo's Parents

The attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents said they continue to believe their daughter was not in a persistent vegetative state, despite the results of the autopsy.

David Gibbs said Bob and Mary Schindler plan to discuss the autopsy with other medical experts and may take some unspecified legal action. The Schindlers fought their son-in-law in court over their daughter's fate for nearly seven years.

Schiavo's family has accused Michael Schiavo of abusing her, which he denies. They also said she was minimally conscious, but the autopsy backed up the contention of Schiavo's husband that she was in a persistent vegetative state.

The medical examiner found no evidence that she was strangled or otherwise abused. The autopsy autopsy concluded that Schiavo did not suffer any trauma before her 1990 collapse when she lapsed into a vegetative state after her heart stopped beating for several minutes.

But what caused the collapse of the woman who became the focus of a right-to-die dispute remains a mystery.

Terri Schiavo is the 41-year-old brain-damaged woman who died March 31, nearly two weeks after the feeding tube that kept her alive was removed under court order. That ended a bitter legal battle between her husband and her parents, who wanted to keep her alive. He had argued she never wanted to be kept alive by a tube.

Autopsy Doesn't Change President's Position

A White House spokesman said the autopsy report doesn't change President George W. Bush's view on the Terri Schiavo case.

Spokesman Scott McClellan said the president opposed the removal of her feeding tube because he thinks Americans should "stand on the side of defending ... life."

When a court ordered Schiavo's feeding tube removed, Bush interrupted a stay at his Texas ranch to fly back to Washington and sign a bill authorizing federal judges to intervene in the case. Despite the legislation, they declined to do so, and Schiavo died March 31.

McClellan called Schiavo's a "sad case," but said Bush believes he was right to side with her parents, who wanted to keep her alive.

Medical Examiner: Schiavo Didn't Starve To Death

A county medical examiner's report backed the contention that Schiavo was in a vegetative state, and her brain damage was irreversible.

The medical examiner, Jon Thogmartin, also said that no trauma was noted on any of the numerous exams in the days after, weeks after or months after the collapse. No evidence of strangulation was found and her heart was normal. She died of "marked dehydration," she did not starve to death, Thogmartin said. He said she suffered no neglect or abuse. He also said she did not appear to have suffered a heart attack.

Testimony in a 1992 civil trial indicated that Schiavo probably was suffering from an eating disorder that led to a severe chemical imbalance and a heart attack. But Thogmartin said today it was unlikely her low potassium level was caused by an eating disorder.

Thogmartin said it is possible that caffeine contributed to her collapse because she drank up to 1 gram of caffeine daily, which was because of the amount of tea she consumed.

The examiner said that Schiavo got severe osteoporosis after her collapse. He said her bones became "palpably soft" after the collapse.

Thogmartin said her brain was "profoundly atrophied" -- and that the damage was "irreversible." He also said, "The vision centers of her brain were dead" -- meaning she was blind. He said no amount of therapy could have reversed her condition.

The conclusion backs up her husband's contention that the brain-damaged woman wouldn't have recovered if she was given additional therapy as her parents requested.

The medical examiner also said she would not have been able to eat or drink if she had been given food by mouth as her parents' requested.

Asked whether the exact cause of her 1990 collapse will ever be known, Thogmartin replied: "I don't know."

Bobby Schindler said the family still has not been told about plans for his sister's cremated remains.

Michael Schiavo has said he will bury them at his family's cemetery in Pennsylvania, but it is unknown whether that has occurred. Michael's brother, Brian Schiavo, said plans for the services are still pending.