Public support for assisted suicide

This morning there are two new polls on assisted suicide, from drawn from the YouGov/Telegraph poll, the other carried out by ComRes earlier this month for BBC Panorama tonight.

ComRes found 73% of people thought that a family member or close friend should be able to assist the suicide of someone with a "painful illness or condition from which they will die" if they were physically incapable of doing so themselves. The figures were also identical when they asked if the law should allow a medical professional to do the same - 74% agreed.

ComRes then asked the same questions about someone suffering from an "incurable and painful illness of condition from which they will NOT die"- in this case people were far more evenly split, 48% thought a friend or family member should be able to assist in such a suicide without prosection, 49% thought they shouldn't. Here figures for medical professionals were slightly more negative - 45% support to 52% oppose.

YouGov's questions did not explore the difference in opinion depending upon whether illness were terminal or not, but they found a similar overall level of support for assisted suicide. 75% thought the law should be amended to allow "some people, such as doctors and/or close relatives to assist a suicide in particular circumstances", and 67% thought that doctors should have the "legal power to end the life of a terminally ill patient who has given a clear indication of the wish to die."

YouGov also asked about the status quo and the Director of Public Prosecutions' signal that while assisting a suicide remained a criminal offence, he would not prosecute "relatives who assist in the suicide of a relative or close friend with a ‘clear, settled and informed’ wish to die" - 82% of people thought this was a humane and sensible approach, with only 11% thinking the law should be enforced in these circumstances.