Terri's Watch: Disputing the Polls

A pro-life advocate believes the mainstream media played a role in how politicians and the general public viewed the Terri Schiavo case. Terri Schiavo died March 31, nearly two weeks after her food and water were discontinued because of a court order brought on by her husband's request. A Zogby poll released shortly after the Florida woman's death revealed that 79 percent of those asked said a person should continue to receive food and water should they become unable to communicate their wishes. This poll was in stark contrast to one commissioned by major news organizations before Terri Schiavo's death. That poll led the public to believe that most people favored denying the disabled hospice patient fluid and nourishment. Erik Whittington of the American Life League says the media poll before her death asked misleading questions. He contends that "the irresponsibility of the secular media in reporting the story and asking the wrong questions sort of produced the wrong information for the general public and possibly even legislators [who were] voting on legislation." In other words, the pro-life spokesman maintains that the media polls on the Terri Schiavo case were worded so as to skew the results, "giving the impression that most Americans wanted to see her die." According to Whittington, the use of terms like "persistent vegetative state" and "life support" in those polls led many of the respondents to answer the way they did