CLEARWATER, Fla. -- A state circuit judge Wednesday refused to block an effort by the parents of a brain-damaged woman to try to get her husband removed as her legal guardian.

TERRI SCHIAVO, 1963-2005 Fact Sheet: Terri Schiavo 2005 Statement: Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush Overview: Living Wills Link: Terri-Schindler-Schiavo Foundation Schiavo Case: Legal Documents

Attorneys for Michael Schiavo now have to respond in court to charges in the petition that he withheld proper care and therapy from his wife, Terri Schiavo, and that he has a conflict of interest because he's in a romantic relationship with another woman.

Bob and Mary Schindler, parents of Terri Schiavo, asked Circuit Judge George W. Greer to appoint Terri's brother or sister as guardian instead.

Schiavo had asked for the Schindler's request to be dismissed, but Greer refused.

In the past, Greer has repeatedly affirmed Michael Schiavo's legal right to remove Terri Schiavo's feeding tube and allow her to die, as he says she would have wished.

The guardianship issue is a sidebar to what is likely to be a major legal battle over a hastily passed state law that let Gov. Jeb Bush order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube Oct. 21.

Michael Schiavo's attorney, with backing by the American Civil Liberties Union, has challenged the constitutionality of the law.

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