The Terri Schiavo Case

Schiavo to take case to national television

Terri Schiavo's husband is scheduled to appear Monday night on CNN's Larry King Live.

PINELLAS PARK - For years, Michael Schiavo has spoken through court documents and his attorney, declining at every opportunity to tell his own story in his own words about life at the vortex of a right-to-life storm.

That will change Monday when the husband of Terri Schiavo appears on CNN's Larry King Live television show.

"Now that it appears the case may go on for at least a few more weeks, he just felt compelled to speak out given the course of events," his attorney George Felos said Saturday.

In the last week, the long-running dispute between Michael Schiavo and his wife's parents over whether Terri should be kept alive by artificial means, has exploded into a national event. Michael Schiavo had succeeded in court in having the feeding tube removed but then, pressured by right-to-life advocates, the Florida Legislature and Gov. Jeb Bush passed a law last Wednesday that overturned the court's ruling and forced doctors to reinsert the tube.

The interview is billed as "following his appearance in court Monday where he will argue that the order by Gov. Jeb Bush to reinsert the feeding tube is unconstitutional, Schiavo will discuss his decadelong legal dispute with her family members regarding his wife's future medical care."

Felos was coy about what Schiavo might reveal.

"I know he has a lot on his mind and a lot in his heart that he wants to share," he said.

Schiavo says his wife, Terri, is in an irreversible vegetative state and has been since 1990 when her heart stopped for several minutes from what doctors believe was a potassium imbalance. Michael Schiavo has said Terri previously had told him she did not want to be kept alive on life support.

Court-appointed doctors say her condition is irreversible and that she has no cognitive function.

But Mrs. Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, disagree, saying their daughter communicates and might partly recover with rehabilitation. They have waged war in the courts to prevent her feeding tube from being removed.

For the second time in the course of the Schiavo case, Terri's feeding tube was removed following a court order, but six days later the Legislature passed what was called "Terri's Law."

Schiavo and his attorney have argued that Bush and legislators violated the state Constitution by violating Terri Schiavo's right to refuse medical care, which Michael Schiavo decided for her as her guardian, and by interfering with a court decision. Last week, the ACLU joined the battle on Michael Schiavo's side.

Throughout the legal battles that began in 1998, Michael Schiavo has preferred public silence. That's because he considered the situation a "private matter," Felos said, and wanted to give his wife as much privacy as possible under the circumstances.

"He had wanted to wait until the case concluded to speak out," Felos said.

Larry King Live airs from 9 to 10 p.m. on CNN.

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