Death with dignity

As reported in national news (see, New York Times (NYT)), the U.S. Supreme Court decided Tuesday that the Controlled Substances Act (see previous FR post, here) does not give the right for the federal government to "punish Oregon doctors who complied with requests under the state's law. The law allows mentally competent, terminally ill patients to ask their doctors for lethal drugs." The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press released survey results last week reporting that an overwhelming majority of Americans (84% approval) favor the right to die (terminally ill patients making the decision to be kept alive or not through medical treatment), with many discussing and personally planning end-of-life treatment. However, Pew Center further qualifies the findings on assisted suicide, reporting:

But Americans make a distinction between allowing a terminally ill person to die and taking action to end someone's life. The public is deeply divided over legalizing physician-assisted suicide; 46% approve of laws permitting doctors to help patients to end their lives, while about as many are opposed (45%).

The survey also reports on public views on such issues as the politics, support, and morality for end-of-life treatments; abortion and the death penalty; and mercy killings.

Strong Public Support for Right to Die
(available in pdf, 136KB, from The Pew Center; news release available in html)