In addition to asking about people’s preferences for their own end-of-life medical treatment, the Pew Research survey included a more general question to gauge views on the issue. In this question, respondents were asked whether there are any circumstances in which medical staff should allow a patient to die or whether doctors and nurses should […]

Washington, D.C. Nov. 21, 2013 — At a time of national debate over health care costs and insurance, a new Pew Research Center survey on end-of-life decisions finds most Americans say there are some circumstances in which doctors and nurses should allow a patient to die. At the same time, however, a growing minority says […]

Aid-in-dying and physician-assisted-suicide laws State laws making it legal for a physician to prescribe lethal medication to a terminally ill, mentally competent patient who wants to end his or her life. This is currently allowed in four states: Oregon, Washington state, Montana and Vermont. Each state has different conditions under which physician-assisted suicide is legal. […]

Religious leaders, scholars and ethicists from 16 major American religious groups explain how their faith traditions’ teachings address physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia and other end-of-life questions.

Views about physician-assisted suicide are, as expected, tied more broadly to beliefs about the morality of suicide. Such beliefs tend to vary depending on the circumstances considered. About six-in-ten adults (62%) believe a person has a moral right to end their own life if they are suffering great pain and have no hope of improvement. […]

Issues surrounding the end of life have been debated since long before New York became the first state to explicitly outlaw assisted suicide in 1828. This timeline looks at major events on the topic in the U.S. since the 1960s. Related Publications: Nov. 21, 2013 Views on End-of-Life Medical Treatments Nov. 21, 2013 To End […]

The Pew Research survey asked respondents about their personal preferences for medical treatment in different scenarios. A majority of adults (57%) say they would ask their doctors to stop medical treatment if they had a disease with no hope of improvement and they were suffering a great deal of pain, while 35% would tell their […]