The Terri Schiavo Case: Paradoxically Most U.S. Adults Approve of How Both Her Husband and Her Parents Behaved

As the dust from the Terri Schiavo case settles, the public’s verdict is in. Most people approve of how both Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband, and the Schindlers, Terri’s parents, behaved. Even though those involved disagreed, many people clearly felt sympathy for both sides in the debate about withdrawing water and feeding tubes from Terri. A 55 to 39 percent majority of the public approves of Michael Schiavo’s behavior but a similar 53 to 41 percent majority also approves of the behavior of Robert and Mary Schindler.

These are some of the results of a Harris Poll of 1,010 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone by Harris Interactive^® between April 5 and 10, 2005.

While both sides in the battle over the feeding tubes are viewed sympathetically by most people, the politicians who got involved are not:

• A 58 to 35 percent majority disapproves of how the U.S. Congress handled the issue.
• By 54 to 41 percent, most people disapprove of how President Bush handled it.
• By 51 to 41 percent, most also disapprove of how Florida Governor Jeb Bush handled it.

Fully 68 percent of all adults followed the Schiavo case closely (and their attitudes toward those involved are almost identical to those of all adults). However, the replies suggest that the public was better informed about what some players did than about others. For example, the public is more or less equally divided in its approval and disapproval of the Federal and Supreme Courts – even though the refusal of these courts to hear the case would seem to be in line with majority opinion. Similarly, the public is divided in its opinion on the Florida courts which supported Michael Schiavo’s position that the feeding tube be removed.

The public (by 57% to 33%) is also critical of the Florida legislature which initially gave Governor Bush the power to intervene, but then declined to do so itself.

"How closely did you follow the Terri Schiavo case, the Florida case involving life support?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way each of the following handled the case involving Terri Schiavo?"

Base: All Adults

Note 1: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Note 2: The replies even by the 68% who said they had followed the Schiavo case closely were virtually identical to those above (for all adults). The biggest differences were three percentage points and most differences were smaller.

The Harris Poll^® was conducted by telephone within the United States between April 5 and 10, 2005 among a nationwide cross section of 1,010 adults (aged 18 and over), of whom 716 followed the Terri Schiavo case closely. Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results for the overall sample have a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Sampling error for the results of adults who followed the Terri Schiavo case closely is plus or minus 4 percentage points. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

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Q440, Q446