By Alan Elsner
WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - The Terri Schiavo case has had the unexpected effect of uniting most Americans, whether Republicans or Democrats, around a consensus that the government should stay out of families' life and death decisions.
"You don't see many 80 percents in polls nowadays," said pollster Andrew Kohut of the Pew Research Center.
He was referring to a CBS poll last week which found that 82 percent of Americans felt Congress should have stayed out of Schiavo's case. The Florida woman's husband and parents have been battling for years over whether to remove the feeding tube keeping her alive, 15 years since since she lapsed into a persistent vegetative state after suffering a heart attack.
The poll also showed 75 percent of respondents said end-of-life issues were not the province of government. Another poll this month by Time magazine found that 70 percent of respondents thought President George W. Bush should not have intervened in the case and 65 percent said he and Congress were motivated more by politics than values and principles.
Schiavo's fate has made world headlines and dominated news coverage in the United States for three weeks.
In a country bitterly divided between Republican "red states" and Democratic "blue states," many citizens seemed angry with both parties and have made up their own minds, pollster John Zogby said.
Republicans who uphold principles of limited government, states' rights and the sanctity of the marital bond were upset their leaders had become involved. Democrats seemed upset that their leaders had mostly stayed silent on the issue.
"America has united on this under the banner of 'a pox on both your houses.' This is an intensely personal issue and people of all political stripes were repulsed at the idea of the government getting involved," Zogby said.
Past studies have shown that most people do not want doctors or hospitals to make end-of-life decisions, much less the government or courts. Nearly everyone wants such decisions controlled by themselves and their families.
At her husband's request, a feeding tube keeping Schiavo alive was removed on March 18 and she has been drifting slowly toward death since then, as her parents rushed from one court to another seeking an order to have the tube replaced.
Pressured by Christian conservatives, Congress passed a special law that sent the case to the federal courts, and Bush cut short a vacation to sign it.
NO BOOST FOR BUSH
Bush and Republican leaders apparently expected to reap a political gain. But polls have told a different story.
A Time magazine poll published last weekend found that 53 percent of evangelical Christians and 53 percent of Republicans agreed with the decision to remove Schiavo's feeding tube.
Among people who attended church at least once a week, 48 percent supported the decision and 45 percent opposed it.
"It is remarkable and surprising how the religious right has been marginalized. The public thinks that Republicans overstepped a bit on this issue, while Democrats have flown the coop so that nobody even knows what their position is," American University political scientist Allan Lichtman said.
Georgetown University political scientist Steven Wayne said the case was a warning to both parties. Republicans had to be more careful in taking simplistic positions on so-called "right to life" issues, while Democrats must lose their fear and begin to debate moral and ethical issues.
"This case should really prompt both parties to take a more nuanced view of where their supporters stand," he said.
Approval ratings for both Bush and Congress have been falling. Bush's approval was down to 45 percent in a Gallup poll this month. Only 37 percent of Americans approved of how Congress was handling its job, with 53 percent disapproving.
"People will remember this case. It will make it more difficult for the parties to take extreme positions in future," Lichtman said.
Bump.
Perhaps some of those Congress critters will get in their respective bunkers and shut up for a while.
Do you think it was government interference? I don't. Congress didn't order a specific outcome, they simply allowed the case to be heard in a Federal court.