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.

"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.

"My crusade against the Death Cult is just beginning- I swear on the altar of God Almighty, I will expose and hector them until I breath no more."

Well, I guess you are a member then. =] Your decoder ring has been sent, along with rings to Jesse Jackson, Ralph Nader, Pope John Paul the Great, [may he find eternal joy] was sent one-- but he never actually needed a ring to understand our coded messages, Bill Clinton, half the FReepers, and 79% of Americans [most Americans are more conservative than FReepers? Something to ask], most of the Republicans in congres, half the democrats in congress, Hannity, Rush, several lawyers, several witnesses, and Mike Savage.

In order for anyone to believe Michael is a victim of a conspiracy, one would have to believe that all the above are members of that conspiracy. Talk about major tinfoil!

-- FReegards.....

"Courts make erroneous decisions all the time. Nothing in our law allows the executive branch to ignore judicial decisions simply because the executive feels they are arrived at erroneously. Nor do you really want to live in a country where the executive gets to substitute his or her idea of what is right in place of a lawfully rendered court decision (as much as you wish it had happened in this case)."

The Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Florida BOTH provided a means for an executive authority, such as "Governor Bush", to act to stop the implementation of any anti-constitutional, and thus unjust and illegal, edict issued by a renegade court. The Governor had the police powers to do this. There are many constitutional lawyers who have pointed this out. Bush could have acted on their advice, but chose to go with the advice of the scumbag attorneys in thrall to the tyrannical views of the leftist liberals, who believe that any court order is sacrosanct, no matter how heinous. Bush failed utterly in his responsibilities as the highest-ranking ELECTED representative and cowardly watched as a fellow citizen was killed by a renegade swamp judge.

I reiterate (and pay close attention this time). If the will of the people was thwarted by an elected representative, such as Bush, then they could vote him out of office! What redress do the people have for an out-of-control un-elected renegade judiciary? The only redress is for our elected representatives to challenge the absolutely heinous edicts of these courts through the use of executive police powers! The court already had shown its contempt for the will of the people by refusing to implement the many laws passed by the state and federal legislatures dealing with this issue! What we need now are elected representatives who understand the principle of implementing the will of the people, rather than allowing this monstrous trend of judicial tyranny being implemented through judicial fiat unopposed by the executive or legislative branches of government. The courts are NOT the last word on any matter; regardless of the bulls**t leftists continuously spew about this to cow the citizenry to accept these gross injustices!

Zogby, it looks like you're a day late and a dollar short. The media was in lock step with Felos, Greer, the Democrat Party and the culture of death, just like they always have been. Any poll saying "no" on Terri's murder would have been buried on the last page of the least read section of their already little-read rags. Certainly, the "talking heads" welcomed the pre-recorded pronouncements on Terri from Felos, Mikey and Greer. Anyone who countered it was commented upon in a snide way that, of course, bolstered the Democrat "position".

If Jeb went by the "polls" that the media was spewing out and printing, he should have known better. He made one of the same mistakes that Clinton made if he governed by poll.

It looks like to me that the Congress, the Governor, and I'm sorry to say even the President let a tin-horn judge down in the swamps of Florida (who was obviously not operating on a full tank of gas) make questionable rulings which resulted in the court sanctioned, court enforced, torturous murder of an innocent human being. I have to agree with Ann Coulter's recent article dealing with just this issue. This atrocity made no sense, just as Judge Greer's rulings made no common sense. He may be sure, though, that his sins will find him out, whatever they are. Ditto for Mikey, Felos and anyone else involved in Terri's unjust death.

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