Let terminally ill control own fate, most say

Posted: 1/20/06

Let terminally ill control own fate, most say

By Jason Kane

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)–An overwhelming majority of white Catholics and Protestants support laws endorsing the right of terminally ill patients to decide whether medical care should keep them alive, a new study by the Pew Research Center has found.

Ninety-one percent of white Catholics and 84 percent of white Protestants support legislation that would allow a patient or his or her closest family member to decide if medical action should be taken to prolong the patient's life, the study showed.

The poll results come less than a year after the Terri Schiavo case sparked end-of-life debates across the nation, with many growing angry when government and medical officials attempted to intervene.

Since a similar poll in 1990, the percentage of individuals believing the patient and family should control their own medical destiny jumped by 11 points for white Catholics and 4 percentage points for white Protestants.

The survey did not provide breakdowns for other ethnic groups within religions.

The poll also found nearly three in 10 Americans–29 percent–now have a living will, and 69 percent have spoken to their spouses about their wishes for end-of-life medical care, up from 51 percent in 1990.

The nationwide study was conducted in November, sampling 1,500 adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.