Public opinion and activism in the Terri Schiavo case

This article is about public opinion and activism in the Terri Schiavo case.

Public opinion

Two polls showed that a large majority of Americans believed that Michael Schiavo should have had the authority to make decisions on behalf of his wife and that the United States Congress overstepped its bounds with its intervention in the case. [1]

According to an ABC News poll from March 21, 2005, 70 percent of Americans believed that Schiavo's death should not be a federal matter, and were opposed to the legislation transferring the case to federal court. In the same poll, when ABC said "Terri suffered brain damage and has been on life support for 15 years. Doctors say she has no consciousness and her condition is irreversible," 63 percent said that they support the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube. Sixty-seven percent agreed with the statement that "elected officials trying to keep Schiavo alive are doing so more for political advantage than out of concern for her or for the principles involved." [2]

A poll by CBS News reported on March 23 showed that 82 percent of respondents believed Congress and the President should stay out of the matter, while 74 percent thought it was "all about politics." Only 13 percent thought Congress acted out of concern for Schiavo. Furthermore, the approval ratings of Congress sank to 34 percent, its lowest since 1997. [3]

A poll commissioned by the Christian Defense Coalition and completed by Zogby International after Schiavo's death found that, among likely voters, 44 percent said the tube should remain in place when asked, "[w]hen 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?" Thirteen percent said the tube should be removed. Forty-four percent said the person should be allowed to live when asked, "[i]f a person becomes incapacitated and has no written statement that expresses his or her wishes regarding health care, should the law presume that the person wants to live, even if the person is receiving food and water through a tube?" (23 percent disagreed). These results were featured in many newspapers. Critics of the poll contend that the questions were leading and that the questions were not related to the Schiavo case. [4][5] The raw poll data are available online. [6]

All of these polls have been criticized for being push polls. [7]

One of the effects of this case is that Americans are showing an increased interest in living wills. Some legal experts say that many of the court battles could have been avoided if Schiavo had had one. Many newspapers ran editorials on the importance of having a living will.

Activism and protests

See also Government involvement in the Terri Schiavo case.

Protesters in front of Schiavo's Pinellas Park, Florida hospice, March 27, 2005.

Vatican officials, U.S. President George W. Bush, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, many Republicans, and several Democrats in the Florida Legislature and U.S. Congress have sided with Schiavo's parents. Other groups and individuals, including the American Civil Liberties Union as well as many Democratic and several Republican legislators, have expressed support for the position of Michael Schiavo. One individual activist even filed a pro se appeal with the Florida State Supreme Court [8].

Various Christian organizations demanded that Schiavo's feeding tube be reinserted. Most of these groups are affiliated with the Christian right, but the Reverend Jesse Jackson, a Democrat and civil rights activist, also called for Schiavo's feeding tube to be reinserted. On March 29, Jackson prayed with the Schindler family outside of Schiavo's Florida hospice. Some groups, such as Not Dead Yet, also protested the removal of the feeding tube because they felt it violated the rights of the disabled.

Forty-seven protesters, including many children, were arrested outside the hospice where Schiavo was located. Most of these were non-violent, staged arrests for trespassing, made when protestors crossed a police line in a symbolic attempt to bring water to Schiavo. One man ran past police and reached the front door of the hospice; he was stunned with a Taser and was apprehended.

Arrests have been made in two separate murder plots against Michael Schiavo: one in which a North Carolina man is accused of offering $250,000 for the murder of Michael Schiavo and $50,000 for the murder of Judge Greer, and the other in which Michael Mitchell of Rockford, Illinois, robbed a Florida gun store as part of an effort to "rescue Terri Schiavo." Additionally, the wife of one of Michael Schiavo's brothers has been targeted; a white car drove by her home three times over the course of several hours, and on the last pass the driver shouted to her, "If Terri dies, I'm coming back to shoot you and your family." Another of Michael Schiavo's brothers says that he receives death threats every time the case is in the news. [9]

On the day Schiavo died, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay criticized the legal system and said, "The time will come for the men responsible [the judges] for this to answer for their behavior." He also threatened to impeach the judges who refused to intervene on Schiavo's behalf. "We will look at an unaccountable, arrogant, out-of-control judiciary that thumbed their nose at Congress and the president," DeLay said. On April 14, 2005, DeLay held a news conference and issued an apology for his comments. He stated, "I said something in an inartful way, and I shouldn't have said it that way, and I apologize for saying it that way."

Judge Greer and his family are under protection from U.S. Marshals due to death threats for having ruled against restoring Schiavo's feeding tube. Additionally, he has been asked to leave his Southern Baptist congregation, Calvary Baptist Church, in Clearwater. [10]