Euthanasia, Physician Assisted Suicide and the Dying Patient

Abstract

"The degree of interest in euthanasia and the extent of its acceptance are reflected in recent opinion polls. In 1989, 676 physicians in San Francisco, California, were asked their opinion of the use of euthanasia. Seventy percent of the respondents said patients who had an incurable terminal illness should have the option of euthanasia. Forty-five percent said they personally would carry out the request. Thirty-five percent said they were opposed to the use of euthanasia. In a public poll conducted in 1994, 63 percent of lay respondents favored legalizing physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Eighty-one percent supported the passage of laws allowing physicians to carry out patients' advance directives, including euthanasia. Seventy-six percent of respondents favored legislation permitting the withdrawal of life support from hopelessly ill or irreversibly comatose patients. Fifty-two percent said they would prefer to consider alternatives to ending their own lives if they had a terminal illness. Responses to the questions overlapped, but the sentiment of the majority of people polled supported euthanasia in some form."(pg 2)