Assisted Suicide Divides the Public

The courts are considering whether Oregon has found acceptable middle ground with its four-year-old assisted suicide law. But in terms of broader public opinion, an ABC News/Beliefnet poll finds the issue as contentious - and as unresolved - as ever.

When it's posed in broad strokes, 48 percent of Americans oppose legalizing assisted suicide, while 40 percent support it. And when Oregon's restrictions are described, opinion moves only slightly, to an even split – 48 percent opposed, 46 percent in favor.

A variety of factors inform these views, and religious belief is central among them. Non-Christians and people who profess no religion overwhelmingly support assisted suicide. But it's opposed by most Christians, who account for eight in 10 Americans, and especially by evangelical Christians, who oppose assisted suicide by a 2-1 margin.

Opposition to doctor-assisted suicide in general terms is strongest among Catholics, Christian women and evangelical Christians.

Oregon
Oregon has sued to block the U.S. Justice Department from taking legal action against doctors in the state who participate in assisted suicides by prescribing fatal drugs to terminally ill patients who request them. A federal court ruling is expected this spring.

The voter-approved Oregon law says patients seeking assisted suicide must be diagnosed as having less than six months to live, get a second opinion from another doctor, ask for fatal drugs three times and wait 15 days before the prescription can be filled. Ninety-one people have used it to end their lives since it took effect in October 1997.

 

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