Misleading Poll Continues to Obscure the Reality of Terri’s Case
Posted on March 21st, 2005 in General | Written by Ben | 7 Comments »
A shocking ABCNews poll says that 63 percent of Americans favor the forced starvation of Terri Schiavo. But should we be surprised when the exact wording of the first two poll questions reads as follows:
1. How closely have you been following the case of Terri Schiavo, the woman at the center of a life-support controversy in Florida? Have you been following this issue very closely, somewhat closely, not so closely or not closely at all?
2. Schiavo suffered brain damage and has been on life support for 15 years. Doctors say she has no consciousness and her condition is irreversible. Her husband and her parents disagree about whether she would have wanted to be kept alive. Florida courts have sided with the husband and her feeding tube was removed on Friday. What’s your opinion on this case – do you support or oppose the decision to remove Schiavo’s feeding tube? Do you support/oppose it strongly or somewhat?(Emphases added)
“On life support”? “To be kept alive”? With the misleading reporting in the New York Times and other places, I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised. Either the mainstream media fundamentally misunderstands the particulars of this case or is intentionally cloaking the truth.
The problem in the Schiavo case is NOT of a brain-dead woman hooked up on a ventilator. Until the media is willing to share the facts about Terri (Judge George Greer has been the sole fact-finder throughout the history of this case and has disregarded a plethora of important evidence), results of major polls aren’t going to change.
Here’s a better poll question:
Schiavo suffered brain damage and has been denied thorough medical testing and humane therapy by her guardian and legal husband for most of the past 15 years. Doctors disagree about her degree of consciousness and are not certain whether her condition is irreversible. Her parents have offered to take care of her, but her husband has claimed for the past 12 years that she would not want to live this way. Florida courts have upheld the decision made by a judge who accepted the husband’s testimony, ruled out dissenting evidence and decided that her feeding tube should be removed on Friday. What’s your opinion on this case – do you support or oppose the decision to remove Schiavo’s feeding tube? Do you support/oppose it strongly or somewhat?
To my friend at Curious Stranger, a direct response to your messages will be posted this evening.
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7 Responses
Mt. Virtus,
Nice reporting.
Coyote Gulch
http://radio.weblogs.com/0101170/
I’ll point out, as I pointed out in email, that there is no substantial difference between being on a ventilator and being on a feeding tube. One person can’t breath on their own, the other can’t eat on their own. Without such medical assistance, both would die. Thus the word: life support.
And there’s been no credible medical testimony showing her to be anything but a vegetable.
And if her parents have been so concerned, have they done anything over the last 15 years to gain custody of her? If not, why?
Another assault on the sanctity of marriage by the Republicans. Next thing you know, they’ll be discouraging marriage. Oh wait, they already are!
Polls – Read the Fine Print
Annie via AfterAbortion dissects polls suggesting the most Americans favor Terri’s death via starvation. For example,That ABC poll also phrased the “feeding tube” question with some extremely inaccurate information: “Schiavo suffered brain damage a…
one has to love the hypocrisy on the left. Funny how people like Curious Stranger are so fast to “defend” the sanctity of marriage by claiming that a man, a husband has rights over his wife’s body, when it comes to putting her to death. But where is the right of a man, a husband, to do with a woman’s body as he wishes when she goes out and has an abortion without his consent?! (obviously, in an abortion you kill another human being, the baby) I guess a man can do with a woman’s body whatever he wants as long as it doesn’t stop her from killing someone else, and it doesn’t stop someone from killing her, right?
and let us not even get into the whole death penalty thing. How liberals fight so hard against the death penalty for murderers, yet they are fighting FOR the death of this woman!
The left, organizations like PETA and other so called humane societies would be up in arms, raising hell if an animal was allowed to starved and dehydrate to death! We give better treatments to inmates in death row! Can you imagine how the left would react if a death row inmate was starved and dehydrated to death?
No one knows for sure what this woman wants. it is the word of a man, who has made a life away from his wife! So, what does he care! How does anyone know that he is telling the truth?! Because the courts said so, because a judge said so? We must remember that the law once said, a judge once ruled that a black man was not a human being, but property! We must remember that the law once said, equal, but separate! LIBERALS BELIEVE, WHEN IT IS CONVINIENT TO THEM THAT THE COURTS ARE GODS! Courts, judges makes mistakes, many mistakes. So, why take the word of the court in Ms. Schiavo’s case, but yet fight so hard when the courts say that gay marriage is not allowed by the USA laws? hmmm….
Wait – All you that think she should live – Why don’t you file attempted murder charges against the Husband, Judges, and Lawyers. If you think this is murder than why not file charges.
If that happens and charges are filed I guess I will have to be one of the first to report to my local police, for signing papers to take my Mother off life support. How many others of you would be in the same position?
Profile,
If Terry Schiavo could speak for herself, and told the court that she wanted to live, and her husband continued to insist that, no, she wanted to die, you’d have an analogy on your hands. Husbands have no say over whether a wife gets an abortion because, presumably, the wives can speak for themselves. If their wife was in Terri Schiavo’s condition, and somehow pregnant, the husband would rightly get to decide whether she got an abortion or not. The point here is that no one can know what Terri wanted, and therefore, the courts decided her husband knew her wishes best.
Oh, and also, courts haven’t said that gay marriage is not allowed by US laws. In fact, every time the issue has made it to court, the courts have said that anti-gay-marriage legislation is unconstitutional.