Assisted Suicide Divides the Public

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Public opinion, however, looks to be based mainly on fundamental views of life and death – not the specifics of this law. Half the people in this poll were asked simply if it should be legal for doctors to help terminally ill patients commit suicide with fatal drugs. The other half were given the Oregon details. Yet, as noted, opposition was stable, and support ticked up only slightly in the latter version.

	Legal		Illegal
Doctor-assisted suicide, general terms	40%		48%
Doctor-assisted suicide, Oregon specifics	46%		48%

Groups
One change is among women. Just 34 percent of women support the general proposition of doctor-assisted suicide; given the Oregon system this rises to 44 percent. The shift is even bigger among Republicans, who oppose the general proposition by 61-28 percent, but the Oregon system by a closer 52-41 percent.

Doctor-assisted suicide garners most support in the West – the only region where majorities favor the idea. The general proposition is backed by 53-36 percent in the West; the Oregon law, by 59-34 percent.

And there’s an age gap: This poll finds support for doctor-assisted suicide lowest among older Americans, those age 65 and up. One reason may be that older adults are more apt to be religious – and religiosity plays a strong role in these views.

Religion
Opposition to doctor-assisted suicide in general terms is strongest among Catholics, Christian women and evangelical Christians. The Oregon system engenders a little more support from the first two groups – but not from evangelical Christians, who remain very broadly opposed.

Non-evangelical Christians are more flexible: They oppose doctor-assisted suicide in general by a 15-point margin, but actually support the Oregon system, 53-39 percent. A bit under half of Christians in this survey, 45 percent identified themselves as born-again or evangelical Christians.

Methodology
This ABC News/Beliefnet survey was conducted by telephone March 13-17, 2001, among a random national sample of 1,021 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.