End-of-Life Decisions: How Americans Cope
While most Americans approve of laws that say treatment can be stopped if that's what a terminally ill patient desires, they are split on what they would do personally in that situation.
Coping With End-of-Life Decisions
While most Americans approve of laws that say treatment can be stopped if that’s what a terminally ill patient desires, they are split on what they would do personally in that situation. Only 27% have put into writing their own wishes regarding end-of-life care.
End-of-Life Issues
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has assembled a variety of resources on end-of-life issues, including reports, event transcripts, polling data and news clips. Pew Forum and Pew Research Center Resources | Recent News | Other Resources Pew Forum and Pew Research Center Resources Oregon’s ‘Death with Dignity’ Law: 10 Years Later The […]
Oregon’s ’Death with Dignity’ Law: 10 Years Later
Washington, D.C. Ten years have passed since Oregon became the first state in the nation to authorize doctors to assist terminally ill patients in voluntarily ending their lives. Although some predicted the legalization of physician-assisted suicide (also called physician aid in dying) in other states, similar measures have since been defeated in California, Hawaii and […]
The Right-to-Die Debate and the Tenth Anniversary of Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act
Similar measures considered in several other states have failed in the state legislature or at the ballot box, while polls show the country still divided on the issue.
The Right-to-Die Debate and the Tenth Anniversary of Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act
Ten years ago this month, Oregon enacted a law permitting physicians to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to certain terminally ill patients, a practice often called physician-assisted suicide. The Death with Dignity Act, which took effect on Oct. 27, 1997, is the only law of its kind in the United States, making it an […]
A Progressive Argument Against the Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide
The debate over physician-assisted suicide is often portrayed as a battle between social or religious conservatives who oppose the practice and liberals or progressives who support it. But not everyone fits neatly into this paradigm. For instance, Dr. Robert P. Jones, who calls himself a progressive, has just written a book urging liberal supporters of […]
First Anniversary of the Death of Terri Schiavo
Pew Forum and Pew Research Center Resources on End-of-Life Issues This month marks the first anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged Florida woman whose medical condition led to an emotional public debate over end-of-life issues. Schiavo died on March 31, 2005, after state courts repeatedly affirmed the right of her husband […]
Supreme Court’s Decision in Gonzales v. Oregon : High Court Rejects Federal Regulation of Physician-Assisted Suicide
Download the Decision Analysis Download the Legal Backgrounder On January 17, 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that the 1970 Controlled Substances Act (CSA) does not give the U.S. attorney general the authority to prohibit Oregon doctors from prescribing lethal doses of drugs to certain terminally ill patients who want to end their own lives. The […]
Supreme Court’s Decision in Gonzales v. Oregon
The Pew Forum analyzes the Supreme Court's January 17 decision that the 1970 Controlled Substances Act (CSA) does not give the U.S. attorney general the authority to prohibit Oregon doctors from prescribing lethal doses of drugs to certain terminally ill patients who want to end their own lives.
