Majority of the public favor physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients in great pain

A new Harris/BBC World News America poll finds that large majorities of Americans now favor physician assisted suicide and euthanasia for terminally ill patients in great pain who wish to end their lives. It also finds that a majority of people over 65 now have written directives regarding the type of care they would like to receive, or not to receive, at the end stages of their lives.

These are some of the results of BBC World News America/Harris Poll of 2,340 adults surveyed online between August 19 and 23, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

Key findings in this new poll include:

• Most people (56% of all adults) know someone, living or dead, who has created written directives or documented instructions, often called living wills, that express their wishes for the type of care they would like to receive at the end stages of their lives;
• While only about a quarter (28%) of adults have written directives themselves, this increases with age. Almost two-thirds (63%) of adults over 65 have executed written directives;
• More than two-thirds (70%) of all adults agree that people who are terminally ill, in great pain and who have no chance of recovery should have the right to choose to end their lives. This includes a majority, but a smaller percentage (62%), of people over 65.  Only 17% of the public disagree;
• Two-thirds of all adults (67%) think that doctors should be allowed to advise terminally ill patients who request the information on alternatives to medical treatment and/or ways to end their lives. However only 27% think doctors should be able to do this in all cases, while 40% think this should happen only in "certain cases," that were not defined in this survey; and,
• A 58% to 20% majority, with 22% not sure, think that "the law should allow doctors to comply with the wishes of a dying patient in severe distress who asks to have his or her life ended."  In other words, a majority of adults say they support physician-assisted suicide for such patients.

So what?

This new poll confirms that substantial majorities of the public now favor physician-assisted suicide, and the right of some terminally ill patients to commit suicide. However, in reviewing these measurements of public opinion it is worth noting that that the real world is often more nuanced and complicated than these blanket hypothetical scenarios. How certain is one that the patient really is terminally ill?  How much distress or pain is required to justify suicide or assisted suicide?

And then there are numerous religious and ethical issues not addressed in this survey.