Four out of five people in Britain believe the law should allow a doctor to end the life of a terminally ill patient who is in pain if they wish to die. In a finding confirming that British public opinion is at odds with the law, the British Social Attitudes Survey reveals strong support for euthanasia, though only in carefully defined circumstances.
Research conducted for the survey indicates that backing for voluntary euthanasia depends strongly on whether someone is terminally ill, on levels of suffering and on how death occurs. There is much greater support for a doctor being permitted to end someone’s life rather than a relative, or than suicide assisted by a doctor.
Strongest support – from 80% – came for the suggestion that a doctor should “probably” or “definitely” be allowed by law to end the life, at the patient’s request, of an individual with an incurable or painful illness from which they will die, such as cancer.
Seventy-five per cent backed doctor-administered euthanasia for those with an incurable and terminal illness who say their suffering is unbearable.
However, public support for euthanasia drops dramatically for cases where an individual is not already facing death as a result of their condition. Where the patient has an “incurable and painful illness, from which they will not die”, 45% support assisted dying, while only 43% back euthanasia for those not in danger of death but permanently and completely dependent on relatives.
When questioned on a specific condition, public backing falls still further. Exactly a third of people said they would condone euthanasia for individuals with an incurable and painful but not terminal illness, such as severe arthritis.
The survey comes in the wake of a fiercely contested attempt last year to change the law. A private member’s bill introduced in the House of Lords by the cross-bench peer Lord Joffe proposing assisted dying for the terminally ill was rejected after a concerted lobbying campaign by church leaders and others.
The latest social attitudes report concludes that, as a result of debate over the bill and other high-profile cases such as the efforts of Diane Pretty – terminally ill with motor neurone disease – to ensure her husband freedom from prosecution should he help her to die, the public is now relatively well informed on issues of assisted dying.
It also argues that public opinion seems to be stable, despite running contrary to current law. There have been only small variations since 1989 in backing for doctor-assisted euthanasia for patients with incurable and painful conditions.
The survey also finds attitudes to euthanasia are rooted in a wider set of values. People who regularly attend a religious service, for instance, are far less likely to support euthanasia than people who never attend.
The researchers conclude: “The disjuncture between the current law on assisted dying and majority public opinion thus seems unlikely to simply disappear. Pressure to mount further attempts to change the law in some ways at least looks set to continue.”
