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reportAug 20, 2009

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.
reportAug 20, 2009

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.
reportAug 20, 2009

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.
reportOct 10, 2007

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 […]
reportOct 10, 2007

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.
reportOct 10, 2007

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 […]
reportOct 9, 2007

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 […]
reportOct 3, 2007

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 […]
reportMar 21, 2006

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 […]
fact sheetFeb 1, 2006

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 […]

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