The Daily Background

The Pew Research center is out with new poll findings today, many of which regard the so called “Culture of Life” that many Republicans claim to subscribe to. Included are some interesting bits. The following are ones that particularly interest me:

By a wide margin, the public continues to disapprove of congressional action in 2005 that directed the federal courts to hear the case of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman who later died after her feeding tube was removed.

The Democratic Party has a modest advantage with the public in dealing with end-of-life issues. About one-third (34%) say the Democrats could do a better job with such issues, while 22% favor the Republicans.

By more than eight-to-one (84%-10%), the public approves of laws that let terminally ill patients make decisions about whether to be kept alive through medical treatment.

A solid majority of Americans (60%) believe a person has a moral right to end their life if they are suffering great pain and have no hope of improvement. Nearly as many (53%) believe a person has a moral right to end their life if suffering from an incurable disease. But far fewer see a right to suicide in other circumstances.

Relatively few Americans subscribe to what may be termed as a consistent “ethic of life” opposing both abortion and the death penalty, and favoring the use of all medical means to keep terminally ill patients alive. Abortion opponents and death penalty opponents alike overwhelmingly believe that there are circumstances in which doctors and nurses should let a patient die.

Consistency, consistency, consistency. Seems to be a problem, picking and choosing when they want to subscribe to the “culture of life.” Full poll results and some analysis can be found here.

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