Replies

First, the majority of Americans agree with the decision. Therefore I don't think on the grand scale this will mean anything long term and there will not be any new legislation with regards to this case.

I strenuously object. :) The majority of Americans don't know the facts of the case and would probably sound like buffoons if you asked them why they believe what they believe on the matter. Second, many pollsters have admitted that the polling done by ABC, CBS, FOX, and others so skewed the questions, the polls are bogus and can't be trusted. The questions asked were nothing like what was implied in the news reporting. For example, ABC asked people if they would want to be taken off life support if they were in a coma. That's nothing like Terri's situation. None of them asked anything like "If you were on a feeding tube and there was debate as to whether you would really want to die in that situation, but you were unable to voice your opinion, would you want to be taken off the feeding tube and allowed to die by starvation and dehydration?" What do you think the poll results would be for that question? Drastically different I would say.

The reality is that most americans don't know the details of the case.

The problem is that they think they know the details but are in fact working on incomplete or wrong information. That's not to say they are stupid (they aren't).

The perception is more important than the reality (and in many ways perception is reality). The fact that there is a good reason they polled that way (uninformed) isn't as important as the fact that they polled that way. People are not suddenly going to get informed and change their minds when this ends.

As you say, the majority of americans don't know the facts. What you don't grasp is that it doesn't really matter, from a practical standpoint.