---
title: "Reflections of the Times"
description: "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 […]"
date: "1990-06-10"
authors:
  - name: "Pew Research Center"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/1990/06/10/reflections-of-the-times/"
categories:
  - "Death & Dying"
---

# Reflections of the Times

## 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 known. All segments of the public, including members of all major religious groups, support right-to-die policies. This support stems from the widely-held belief that physicians should sometimes allow a patient to die, rather than use the full range of medical procedures and treatments available.