Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman whose plight has divided America, died yesterday, 13 days after the court-approved removal of a feeding tube that was keeping her alive.

The bitter fight over her fate had spread beyond her family into the Supreme Court, Congress and the White House. The debate her case has stirred about the right-to-life versus the right-to-die and the extent to which politicians and judges should interfere will have lasting repercussions.