Schiavo Is Moved Into New Facility

CLEARWATER - Terri Schiavo has been moved from a hospice to an assisted living facility, but the move does not signal a change of heart by her husband, who insists his wife would not want to be kept alive with a feeding tube.

The move, from Hospice of the Suncoast in Pinellas Park to Park Place of Clearwater, was made late Tuesday or early Wednesday because the Pinellas Park facility is about to undergo renovations, said George Felos, attorney for Michael Schiavo.

Schiavo is locked in a series of court battles with his in-laws, Bob and Mary Schindler, over their daughter's fate. The Schindlers dispute their son-in-law's contention - supported by most examining physicians - that his wife is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of improvement.

On Wednesday, Bob Schindler and his son, Bobby, said Terri Schiavo was exceptionally expressive during a visit at her new home.

"We had a really good session today. She talks to me, and she is saying something," the senior Schindler said.

"She seemed to be really reacting to my dad today," Bobby Schindler said. "Actually, it's heartbreaking. She clearly was trying to communicate with my dad, but they won't give her speech therapy."

That therapy is but one contested issue in a 5 1/2-year court battle that is being waged in two courts almost simultaneously.

News of Terri Schiavo's move came after two hearings Wednesday.

Circuit Judge George Greer again was asked to transfer the original probate and guardianship case to another judge. Greer did not issue a ruling.

It was Greer who, after a January 2000 nonjury trial, found testimony from Michael Schiavo and his relatives showed Terri Schiavo made statements before her illness indicating she would not want to be kept alive with a feeding tube.

The 40-year-old St. Petersburg woman suffered brain damage when her heart failed in January 1990. Doctors have said a potassium deficiency - possibly due to an eating disorder - might have caused her heart to stop, cutting off oxygen to her brain.

Gov. Jeb Bush intervened in October after the feeding tube had been removed for six days on court orders intended to allow her to die. Bush ordered the tube reinserted based on powers granted to him by legislation dubbed "Terri's Law."

Michael Schiavo immediately filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law.

At a second hearing Wednesday, Circuit Judge Douglas Baird postponed until next week a scheduled showdown over whether he should decide the constitutionality of Terri's Law quickly or allow Bush to reopen the issue of Terri Schiavo's wishes.