Americans Choose Death Over Vegetative State Most would have feeding tube removed for their child, spouse, or themselves
by Lydia Saad, Senior Gallup Poll Editor
The court of public opinion has been no more favorable to Terri Schiavo's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, than have been the state and federal courts that rebuffed their various requests to reinsert the feeding tube that keeps their daughter alive. Yes, Americans feel sympathetic toward the Schindlers, but on the legal question that is their real concern, every national media poll conducted to date about the Schiavo situation has found a majority of Americans agreeing with the court rulings that prevented reinserting the tube that was removed on March 18.
* A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted March 18-20* found 56% of Americans in agreement with the original removal of the feeding tube, with a question that was preceded by a description of Schiavo as "a Florida woman who has been in a persistent vegetative state since 1990."
* A CBS News poll on March 21-22 described Schiavo as being in a persistent vegetative state, and found 61% agreeing with the decision to remove her feeding tube.
* A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted March 1-2 found 59% in favor of removing Schiavo's feeding tube, when told that she has been in "a so-called persistent vegetative state since 1990."
* An ABC News poll on March 20 found 63% of Americans in agreement with the removal, with a question that characterized Schiavo as suffering from irreversible brain damage, having no consciousness, and being on life support.
The Schindlers have argued that polling -- and media coverage of the case more generally -- has erred in telling the public that Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state (PSV). They assert that their daughter is responsive, and at least two neurologists who observed Schiavo or reviewed her medical records say that she may have been misdiagnosed with PSV, and is, rather, in a "minimally conscious state."
Being in a vegetative state clearly has strong connotations for Americans. Whether Americans perceive much of a difference between being "a vegetable" and in a "minimally conscious state" is an open question.
A Gallup Poll from 1997 on death and dying found that being in a vegetative state was the most troubling end-of-life possibility to Americans among 24 different medical, emotional, practical, and spiritual problems that can confront people at death.
More than half of Americans said that "the possibility of being vegetable-like for some period of time" worries them "a great deal" when they think about their deaths. This exceeded concern for how family or loved ones will be cared for (44%), not having the chance to say good-bye to someone (39%) and even the possibility of great physical pain (32%).
Some people, when they think about their death, worry about practical matters, or emotional matters, or medical or spiritual matters Š When you do think about your own death, how much, if at all, does each of these (practical/ emotional/ medical/ spiritual) matters worry you--a great deal, somewhat, not too much, or not at all?
The Gallup Organization* May 1997
% a great deal
The possibility of being vegetable-like for some period of time 53
How your family or loved ones will be cared for 44
Not being forgiven by God 42
Not having the chance to say good-bye to someone 39
Dying when you are removed or cut off from God or a higher power 38
The possibility of great physical pain before you die 32
Thinking that your death will be the cause of inconvenience and stress for those who love you 29
Not reconciling with others 25
The possibility of not having access to your own doctor or hospital 23
The possibility of not having access to life-saving medical technology 23
Not being forgiven by someone for something you did 23
The possibility of continued emotional suffering 21
The possibility of being alone when you are dying 21
Having other people make medical decisions about you 20
Not having a blessing from a family member or clergy person 19
What it will be like for you after you die 18
Not having made or updated a will 18
Not having completed your life work 16
The idea of being in a hospital if you are dying 14
Not being alive and part of this world 13
Not having made burial arrangements 11
Wondering whether anyone will miss you or remember you over time 10
Having somebody go through your possessions after you have died 6
What they will say about you at your funeral 4
(*) Survey conducted for the Nathan Cummings Foundation and Fetzer Institute
Mercy, Not Malice
A combined 73% of Americans say they worry "a great deal" or "somewhat" about the possibility of being vegetable-like. Given this, it is not surprising that if Americans believe someone is in a vegetative state, they may consider removal of the feeding tube to be an act of mercy.
This earlier finding is reinforced by recent polling showing that most Americans would choose to remove the feeding tube for themselves, their spouse, or even a child if one of these were in the same condition as Schiavo.
* According to a recent ABC News poll, only 16% of Americans would want to be kept alive, themselves, while 78% would not.
* According to a 2003 Fox News poll, 74% would want their guardian to remove the feeding tube.
* According to a recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey, 56% and 61% would remove the feeding tube on behalf of a child or spouse, respectively.
Majority Support Doctor-Assisted Suicide
But it is not just for cases as extreme as PSV patients that Americans believe doctors should be allowed to hasten death. A clear majority of Americans believe doctor-assisted suicide should be legal for terminally ill patients. This is true regardless of whether the question specifies the illness is causing the patient severe pain. In May 2004, Gallup found approximately two-thirds of Americans in support of doctor-assisted suicide for people with incurable diseases:
* 69% said that in cases "when a person has a disease that cannot be cured" doctors should be allowed to "end the patient's life by some painless means if the patient and his family request it."
* 65% said that in cases "when a person has a disease that cannot be cured and is living in severe pain" doctors should be allowed to "assist the patient to commit suicide if the patient requests it."
Of course in these hypotheticals, the doctor has the patient's consent. Terri Schiavo had no living will (neither do most Americans according to a recent ABC News poll) so there is no way to know for certain if she would have wanted to continue living in her condition. But, perhaps because they would have their own feeding tubes removed under Schiavo's conditions, Americans are inclined to believe Michael Schiavo's claim that this would have been his wife's wish.
In a March 22 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, 64% of Americans said they thought Michael Schiavo was definitely or probably telling the truth when he said that Terri told him she would not want to be kept alive by artificial means.
Bottom Line
U.S. District Judge James Whittemore expressed the apparent sentiment of most Americans, when, in his latest ruling in the case, he wrote: "The court would be remiss if it did not once again convey its appreciation for the difficulties and heartbreak the parties have endured throughout this lengthy process." More than four in five Americans told Gallup they feel sympathetic toward the Schindlers, and three in five feel sympathetic for Michael Schiavo.
>From the sidelines, Americans perceived that
Terri Schiavo's mental condition was unlikely to
ever improve. They believed her husband when he
said that it would not have been her wish to be
indefinitely sustained through a feeding tube.
Most Americans know that they, themselves, would
not want to persist in that state. All of this
helps to explain why Americans would so roundly
and consistently agree with the courts on the
removal of Schiavo's feeding tube, even if that
sentiment is profoundly disappointing to her
parents.
*Results are based on telephone interviews with 620 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted March 22, 2005. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.
Results are based on telephone interviews with 909 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted March 18-20, 2005. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.
Survey by Nathan Cummings Foundation and Fetzer Institute. Methodology: Conducted by Gallup Organization during May, 1997 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult sample of 1,200.