Public Opinion About Life and Death - Suicide

A 2002 National Opinion Research Center survey found that 58 percent of respondents approved of suicide if a person had an incurable disease, but only a small

TABLE 11.1
Public opinion on whether a person has the right to end his or her life under specific circumstances, February 2002

DO YOU THINK A PERSON HAS THE RIGHT TO END HIS OR HER OWN LIFE IF THIS PERSON…HAS AN INCURABLE DISEASE?
	%
Yes	58
No	40
Don't know	2
Subpopulation/Note: Asked of 1/3 sample
DO YOU THINK A PERSON HAS THE RIGHT TO END HIS OR HER OWN LIFE IF THIS PERSON…HAS GONE BANKRUPT?
	%
Yes	8
No	90
Don't know	1
Subpopulation/Note: Asked of 1/3 sample
DO YOU THINK A PERSON HAS THE RIGHT TO END HIS OR HER OWN LIFE IF THIS PERSON…HAS DISHONORED HIS OR HER FAMILY?
%
Yes	9
No	90
Don't know	1
Subpopulation/Note: Asked of 1/3 sample
DO YOU THINK A PERSON HAS THE RIGHT TO END HIS OR HER OWN LIFE IF THIS PERSON…IS TIRED OF LIVING AND READY TO DIE?
	%
Yes	15
No	84
Don't know	1
Subpopulation/Note: Asked of 1/3 sample
SOURCE: "Do you think a person has the right to end his or her own life if this person…?" in General Social Survey 2002, Conducted by National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago. Data provided by The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, February, 2002

minority approved of it if the person had gone bankrupt (8 percent), had dishonored his or her family (9 percent), or was simply tired of living (15 percent). In comparison, the same poll from 1977 found that a much lower percentage of people (38 percent) thought suicide was acceptable if one had an incurable illness. Suicide in other situations was also found less acceptable in the 1977 survey than in the 2002 survey. (See Table 11.1.)