Death & Dying

Summary of Findings An overwhelming majority of the public supports laws that give patients the right to decide whether they want to be kept alive through medical treatment. And fully 70% say there are circumstances when patients should be allowed to die, while just 22% believe that doctors and nurses should always do everything possible […]

On October 5, 2005, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Gonzales v. Oregon, a case arising from the conflict between Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act and the U.S. attorney general’s interpretation of the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Oregon’s law, which was twice approved by the state’s voters, permits physicians to prescribe […]

Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. Oregon has twice, by ballot initiative, adopted a measure allowing for physician-assisted suicide. The measure, known as the “Death With Dignity Act,” raises serious moral and ethical questions, and was challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Department contended that it had the right to invalidate the law, […]

Summary of Findings Abortion has dominated the early skirmishing over President Bush’s nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court. But the public takes a more expansive view of the court’s agenda. Indeed, about as many Americans rate the rights of detained terrorist suspects as a very important issue for the Supreme Court as say […]

10:00 a.m.-noon National Press Club Washington, D.C. Sponsored by The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, The Federalist Society, and The Constitution Project End of life decisions have been much in the news lately, with the Schiavo case and the late Pope’s medical treatment dominating recent headlines. Interest in this issue is likely to […]

In some of the most emotionally wrenching times of their lives, millions of dying and bereaved Americans are receiving great comfort from total strangers online.

Report Summary Americans, by a wide six to one majority, support the right of patients to make their own decisions about receiving life-sustaining treatment. The public also overwhelmingly thinks that close family members should be allowed to make decisions about life-sustaining medical treatment, if the patient is unable to make his or her own wishes […]