Posted on 04/04/2005 12:24:14 PM PDT by Theodore R.
Zogby Poll: Americans Not in Favor of Starving Terri Schiavo
Polls leading up to the death of Terri Schiavo made it appear Americans had formed a consensus in favor of ending her life. However, a new Zogby poll with fairer questions shows the nation clearly supporting Terri and her parents and wanting to protect the lives of other disabled patients.
The Zogby poll found that, if a person becomes incapacitated and has not expressed their preference for medical treatment, as in Terri's case, 43 percent say "the law presume that the person wants to live, even if the person is receiving food and water through a tube" while just 30 percent disagree.
Another Zogby question his directly on Terri's circumstances.
"If a disabled person is not terminally ill, not in a coma, and not being kept alive on life support, and they have no written directive, should or should they not be denied food and water," the poll asked.
A whopping 79 percent said the patient should not have food and water taken away while just 9 percent said yes.
"From the very start of this debate, Americans have sat on one of two sides," Concerned Women for America's Lanier Swann said in response to the poll. One side "believes Terri's life has worth and purpose, and the side who saw Michael Schiavo's actions as merciful, and appropriate."
More than three-fourths of Americans agreed, Swann said, "because a person is disabled, that patient should never be denied food and water."
The poll also lent support to members of Congress to who passed legislation seeking to prevent Terri's starvation death and help her parents take their lawsuit to federal courts.
"When there is conflicting evidence on whether or not a patient would want to be on a feeding tube, should elected officials order that a feeding tube be removed or should they order that it remain in place," respondents were asked.
Some 18 percent said the feeding tube should be removed and 42 percent said it should remain in place.
Swann said her group would encourage Congress to adopt legislation that would federal courts to review cases when the medical treatment desire of individuals is not known and the patient's family has a dispute over the care.
"According to these poll results, many Americans do in fact agree with what we're trying to accomplish," she said.
The poll found that 49 percent of Americans believe there should be exceptions to the right of a spouse to act as a guardian for an incapacitated spouse. Only 39 percent disagreed.
When asked directly about Terri's case and told the her estranged husband Michael "has had a girlfriend for 10 years and has two children with her" 56 percent of Americans believed guardianship should have been turned over to Terri's parents while 37 percent disagreed.
(4/1/2005) - By Steven Ertelt, Life News
Let's not forget that it was a Zogby exit poll which said Kerry won the election.
We Republicans all KNEW the Democrat Dummies shot themselves in the foot on this issue and that once a poll asked the RIGHT QUESTIONS regarding murdering Terri, Americans would realize the travesty being done to her and involving Congress was RIGHT !!!!
The dummies at Democratic Underground are strangely SILENT on this Zogby poll today! They were cheering for Michael Shiavo's "right" to murder Terri.
Yep. Another poll-driven bad decision, this time by Jeb Bush. Clinton made lots of those. Liberals were inclined to always forgive Clinton, because he had a (D) after his name. I am much less inclined to forgive a calculated Pontius Pilate move by the two Bushes, and the (R) after their names only makes it worse. Democrats are expected to be in favor of murdering the innocent: 40 million babies and counting. But Republicans are supposed to stand up for life, and sometimes that means doing it and taking a lot of political damage.
Well, the Bush boys did it enough to make it clear that they really saw the issue for what it was, but then backed down in spite of that. They had the power, they chose not to exert it because of the political damage they thought they would inflict on themselves. So, an American woman died of thirst with guards all around to make sure she did, and the two Chief Executives wrung their hands and said "Gee, I wish I could do something."
No sale.
It is delicious, therefore, to have a more balanced poll reveal that the Bushes' political calculation, the politics of personal cowardice, blew up in their face. In addition to taking the weak and evil solution, they ALSO took the path that resulted in the more unpopular result.
Serves them right.
Still waiting on the Republicans to pass that Nuclear Option and show they are pro-life.
Still waiting...
Waiting...
Tic, tic, tic...
{Sound of chirping crickets)
To be clear, a poll asking whether or not food and water should be removed is not the same as a poll asking if a governor should use police powers to define a court order. I would have like to see Jeb do it, but we should not read more into a poll than is actually there.
The fact that this *may* be true is really saying something...
Oh, really?
"The major news organizations hired Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International to conduct the official exit polls for all 50 states and the District of Columbia for the 2004 elections."
I'm sick of polls. Half of them are contrived to insert bias to get the answer the liberal media wants.
Maybe Zogby is trying to restore his reputation after the Kerry fiasco.
Zogby Poll: Americans Not in Favor of Starving Terri Schiavo (poll with fair questions)
LifeNews ^ | April 1, 2005 | Steven Ertelt
Posted on 04/01/2005 8:05:46 PM PST by FairOpinion
Thanks for posting. Zogby is not always the most accurate pollster (who is?) but this does indeed vindicate those who said the other polls were defective.
I still hear the phrase "pull the plug" used in connection with this case, and I correct it every single time I hear it.
Jeb was right IMO. The citizens will vote the buggers out.
I doubt there is a poll saying that Americans believe Bush should have violated the judge's order.
Lets not forget all the Democrats that sided with the Bushes to interrupt. When the polls said otherwise, these "all" stopped. Lets not forget all the Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, and Republicans that refused or didn't show up to vote because they didn't know what the polls would say. If you're going to blame I would blame all not some.
How ANY politician could sit back and let this happen because of polls is a shame. Tho I guess some credit should be given to those who at least thought they could do something (without sacrificing their posiitons in office). Alhough, like you, I am disappoint they didn't follow through I am more diappointed with those who refused helping her at all.
The person that America should be MOST angry with is the general news media whose saw this only as an opportunity to knock the Bush people (goal 2008) down by trumping up polls and reporting only one side of the Schavio issue. It is their doing, trumped up poll data, that cause many politicians (and judges) to ignore the issue. Greer, Felos, and especially Michael Schavio are the ones that really killed Teri. The general media without question were accomplices because they didn't care if it meant the life of a woman. Their political agenda was far more important.
The idea that America should be governed by poll results is nothing more than high-tech mob rule. It's not how a republic is supposed to work. Popular support for anything proves only that it has popular support, but morally and legally it neither validates nor invalidates anything.
Yea, well their talk is too late and their action was non-existant.
Zogby and his polling is just now beginning to understand why men react the way we do to abortion, the death penalty, warfare, and why we believe the state ordered murder of Terri Schiavo to be the actions of depraved subhumans.
One of the basic survival instincts passed down to men since the beginning of time is the inborn drive for the male of our species to protect our women and our children, if necessary at the cost of our own lives. Without this instinctive drive to protect our women and children, we would be not just non-human we would have become extinct eons ago.
It is because of this innate drive to protect our women and our children that we do what is necessary to eliminate any threat that might come their way, and to eliminate this threat we do not hesitate to execute murderers or wage war. It is also the reason that we loathe abortion, and it is the reason we unhesitatingly came to the aid of Terri Schiavo.
Furthermore, when it comes time to elect our leaders, we look for the candidate whom we believe will best assist us in this inborn drive to protect our women and our children. Politicians take notice, as we have now seen what you are made of.
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