NEWS BULLETIN: Terri Schiavo passes away

March 31, 10:30 AM EST

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This story will be updated throughout the day.]

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (BP)--Terri Schiavo, the 41-year-old disabled woman at the center of a nationwide life-and-death debate, died Thursday morning at 9:05 AM in her Florida hospice -- nearly two weeks after her feeding tube was pulled.

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Her case captured the nation's attention in recent weeks, as Congress and President Bush intervened in an attempt to save her life. But in the end, Schiavo's parents failed to convince federal courts to re-insert her feeding tube.

Her death by starvation and dehydration brought together both sides of the ideological spectrum. Sen. Rick Santorum, R.-Pa., one of the nation's foremost pro-lifers, visited with her parents, as did Rev. Jesse Jackson, a former Democratic presidential candidate who has clashed with religious conservatives on multiple issues.