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reportJan 31, 2006

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.
reportJan 5, 2006

Strong Public Support for Right to Die

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 […]
fact sheetSep 30, 2005

Supreme Court Considers Challenge to Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act: Gonzales v. Oregon and the Right to Die

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 […]
transcriptSep 29, 2005

The Right to Assisted Suicide?: Oregon Goes to the Supreme Court

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, […]
reportAug 3, 2005

Abortion and Rights of Terror Suspects Top Court Issues

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 […]
reportAug 3, 2005

About the Survey

Results for this report are based on two separate telephone surveys conducted under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The first survey is among a nationwide sample of 1,502 adults, 18 years of age or older, from July 13-17, 2005. For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence […]
transcriptMay 6, 2005

Right to Die? Legal, Ethical and Public Policy Implications

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 […]
reportJun 10, 1990

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 […]

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