Euthanasia Opinion

 Rachael Yi at Gallup:

Americans’ current views on the legality of euthanasia, a procedure in which a physician intentionally acts to end the life of a patient, are similar to what they have been during the past decade. Just over seven in 10 Americans, 71%, believe doctors should be “allowed by law to end the patient’s life by some painless means if the patient and his or her family request it.”

At the same time, doctor-assisted suicide -- a term used to describe patients ending their own lives with the aid of a physician -- garners slightly less but still majority support. Sixty-six percent of Americans believe doctors should “be allowed by law to assist the patient to commit suicide” for terminal patients living in severe pain who request it.

Although both readings are consistent with support over the past decade, slightly fewer Americans between 1996 and 2014 thought doctor-assisted suicide should be legal. During that time, an average of 58% of Americans were in favor, compared with an average of 65% since 2014. Support for doctor-assisted suicide has risen from the trend low of 51% just in the past decade, while support for euthanasia has varied only modestly over the past three decades.