Posted on 04/08/2004 12:54:45 PM PDT by a5478
Public divided on keeping brain-damaged woman alive
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Six months after Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature stepped into the case, Floridians are split over decisions by lawmakers to keep Terri Schiavo alive, a new poll shows.
Forty-one percent of likely Florida voters say they approve of the decision in October to reinsert the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube, while an equal number say it was wrong. Another 18 percent were uncertain.
The poll, conducted for several Florida newspapers and broadcasters by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., also shows Bush's approval rating holding steady at 54 percent.
But the survey cautions state lawmakers, who are moving ahead with a business-backed drive to make it tougher for voters to change the state constitution. Forty-four percent of likely voters say they oppose that proposal, while 39 percent are in favor. Another 17 percent are undecided.
Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville, has made it a top priority this year to limit changes to the constitution.
Schiavo, 40, has been in what her doctors call a persistent vegetative state since collapsing 14 years ago from a potassium imbalance. Her husband said she had stated in casual conversations that she would not want to be kept alive artificially, and after a long court battle, he won an order to have the feeding tube removed.
She was expected to die within two weeks when the Legislature acted, urged on by her parents.
The Legislature was in special session when a judge allowed Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, to have her feeding tube removed. Within days, legislators passed a law giving Bush the power to order her feeding tube reinstated, which he did. The law is being challenged in court.
King also stopped any attempts by lawmakers to revisit the Schiavo case - calling last October's vote "probably one of the worst votes that I've ever done."
The telephone survey of 625 likely voters was conducted March 30 through April 1 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points
If the question is re-phrased, more accurately, to "should a brain damaged woman be put to death by starvation?" you will get a much different response.
This poll has an error margin of 0%. It is 100% accurate.
Biased Poll Has Florida Voters Against Helping Terri Schiavo -- LifeNews.com ^ March 1, 2004 Steven Ertelt
A new poll (3/1/04) reveals that a majority of Florida voters disapprove of Governor Jeb Bush's decision to ask doctors to reinsert the feeding tube that is helping Terri Schiavo stay alive. But, thanks to a biased question, the results may be significantly skewed.According to a poll, conducted for The Florida Times-Union and South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspapers, only 29 percent backed the governor while 67 percent said Bush and the Legislature were wrong to get involved.
[Note this killer wording:] “Respondents were asked: "Do you think Governor Bush and the Florida legislature were right to order the continuation of life support for Terri Schiavo, who has been in a vegetative state for more than a decade?"
Terri Schiavo, 40, has been in what her [estranged HUSBAND's] doctors call a persistent vegetative state since collapsing 14 years ago from an [ALLEDGED] potassium imbalance [OTHERS ALLEDGE from STRANGULATION]. Her estranged husband [AFTER GAINING $1 MILLION DOLLARS FOR HER REHABILITATION, AND TWO YEARS AFTER ASKING ANOTHER WOMAN, JODI CENTONZE, TO MARRY HIM IN 1996, SUDDENLY RECALLED that Terri had once] stated in casual conversations that she would not want to be kept alive artificially, and after a long court battle, he won an order to have the feeding tube removed.
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