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| 1. Gallup Poll: May 8-11, 2006 | |
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"When a person has a disease that cannot be cured, do you think doctors should be allowed by law to end the patient's life by some painless means if the patient and his family request it?"
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"When a person has a disease that cannot be cured and is living in severe pain, do you think doctors should or should not be allowed by law to assist the patient to commit suicide if the patient requests it?"
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Source: Gallup Organization  May 2006 |
| 2. CBS News/New York Times: June 1990 - Jan. 2006 | |
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"If a person has a disease that will ultimately destroy their mind or body and they want to take their own life, should a doctor be allowed to assist the person in taking their own life, or not?"
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Date of Poll |
% Should be Allowed |
% Should Not be |
% Unsure |
56 |
37 |
7 |
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54 |
39 |
7 |
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Date of Poll |
% Yes |
% No |
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Nov. 18-21, 2004* |
46 |
45 |
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Nov. 1998* |
52 |
37 |
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Dec. 1993* |
58 |
36 |
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Mar. 1991* |
53 |
39 |
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Jun. 1990* |
53 |
42 |
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| (Source: CBS News and The New York Times Jan. 2006) * information collected in previous surveys by the poll’s publisher, and supplied for comparison; exact date, subject number and margin of error are not indicated |
| 3. Fox News: Oct. 2005 | |
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"Do you favor or oppose legalizing physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients?"
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"Do you think states should have the right to let doctors prescribe medications that would help mentally competent, terminally ill patients end their lives?"
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| Source: Fox News Oct. 2005 |
| 4. Pew Research Center: March 2001 - July 2005 | |
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"In some states, it's legal to stop medical treatment that is keeping a terminally ill patient alive, or never start the treatment in the first place, if that's what the patient wants. Do you approve or disapprove of laws that let PATIENTS decide about being kept alive through medical treatment?"
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"In some states, it's legal for doctors to prescribe lethal doses of drugs that a terminally ill patient could use themselves to commit suicide. Do you approve or disapprove of laws that let doctors assist patients who want to end their lives this way?"
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"Do you think a person has a moral right to end his or her own life under any of the following circumstances?
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Circumstances |
% Yes |
% No |
% Unsure |
"When this person has a disease that is incurable" |
53 |
39 |
8 |
"When this person is suffering great pain and has no hope of improvement" |
60 |
34 |
6 |
"When this person is an extremely heavy burden on his or her family" |
29 |
62 |
9 |
"When this person is ready to die because living has become a burden" |
33 |
58 |
9 |
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Making it legal for doctors to give terminally ill patients the means to end their lives
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Date of Poll |
% Net Favor |
% Strongly Favor |
% Favor |
% Net Oppose |
% Strongly Oppose |
% Oppose |
% Don't Know |
July 2005* |
51 |
18 |
33 |
40 |
16 |
24 |
9 |
July 2003* |
54 |
18 |
36 |
39 |
17 |
22 |
7 |
March 2001* |
53 |
19 |
34 |
40 |
18 |
22 |
7 |
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Making it legal for doctors to assist terminally ill patients in committing suicide?
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Date of Poll |
% Net Favor |
% Strongly Favor |
% Favor |
% Net Oppose |
% Strongly Oppose |
% Oppose |
% Don't Know |
July 2005* |
44 |
12 |
32 |
48 |
21 |
27 |
8 |
July 2003* |
43 |
14 |
29 |
48 |
24 |
24 |
8 |
| 5. The Harris Poll: 1983 - April 2005 | |
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"Do you think that the law should allow doctors to comply with the wishes of a dying patient in severe distress who asks to have his or her life ended, or not?"
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Dates |
% Yes, should allow |
% No, should not allow |
% Not sure |
April 5-10, 2005 2005 |
70 |
29 |
1 |
Dec. 2001* |
65 |
29 |
6 |
1997* |
68 |
27 |
4 |
1993* |
73 |
24 |
3 |
1987* |
62 |
32 |
4 |
1983* |
53 |
34 |
8 |
| (Source: Harris Interactive April 2005) * information collected in previous surveys by the poll’s publisher, and supplied for comparison; exact date, subject number and margin of error are not indicated |
| 6. ABC News: March 2002 | |
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"Do you think it should be legal or illegal for doctors to help terminally ill patients commit suicide by giving them a prescription for fatal drugs?"
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"Imagine a law that would make it legal for doctors to help terminally ill patients commit suicide by giving them a prescription for fatal drugs. To be eligible, patients would have to be diagnosed as having less than six months to live, get a second opinion from another doctor, and ask for the drugs three times. And, there would be a 15-day waiting period before the prescription could be filled. Under this system, do you think it should be legal or illegal for doctors to help terminally ill patients commit suicide by giving them a prescription for fatal drugs?"
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