Legalization of physician-assisted suicide in California: Will Californians support or oppose physician-assisted suicide

Physician-assisted suicide is a controversial topic for which both sides have valid and compelling arguments. In 1997, physician-assisted suicide was legalized in Oregon, giving the right of an individual to end his or her life when over the age of 18, terminally ill and given less than six months to live. The legalization of physician-assisted suicide was recently considered in California and, according, to a recent Field Poll, 70% of Californians approve the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. In the present study, 184 people in the San Francisco Bay Area completed surveys requesting their opinion on the legalization of physician-assisted suicide in California. The purpose of this study was to examine if participants would support or oppose physician-assisted suicide when given a short vignette describing two individuals who may request it. The first vignette described a retired gentleman in his 70's recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and the second vignette described a younger woman, also recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, with two young children. The relationship between participants' demographic information and their responses were examined. Across all participants, 68% supported the legalization of physician-assisted suicide, 19% were against physician-assisted suicide and 13% were "undecided." Thus a majority of the participants supported physician-assisted suicide regardless of which vignette they read. For the total sample Participants' responses were not related to demographic information. However, among a subgroup of the sample (n=50) with higher religious affiliation, only 46% supported physician-assisted suicide, 30% were opposed and 24% were undecided. Furthermore, among this group, there was a significant difference across vignettes, with more support for physician-assisted suicide if the patient was an older man than if she was a younger mother. Future research should expand beyond the San Francisco Bay Area, and further investigate the relationship of higher religious affiliation to views on physician-assisted suicide. Mental health professionals could play a critical role in working with patients requesting physician-assisted suicide, and could help consider ramifications for family members (especially those under age 18) of the person choosing physician-assisted suicide. However, it is necessary to develop appropriate training for mental health professionals who may choose to work with individuals requesting physician-assisted suicide.