American support for euthanasia based on ‘false dichotomy,’ Catholic researcher says

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 13, 2024 / 16:16 pm (CNA).

After a new Gallup poll found that 7 out of 10 Americans (71%) support legalized euthanasia, Dr. Scott French, a Catholic emergency physician and researcher, believes that Americans’ broad support for euthanasia is based on a “false dichotomy.”

French told CNA that headlines claiming that “most Americans favor legal euthanasia” are likely exaggerations of the reality based on misleading survey questions.

“Even Gallup has stated that ‘U.S. support for euthanasia hinges on how it’s described,’” French said. “But the assumption that people must choose between death with pain and death without pain is a false dichotomy.”

What did the Gallup poll say?

Published on Aug. 8, the Gallup poll said that American support for legal euthanasia has remained relatively steady since 1996, with 71% of Americans favoring the practice in 2024.

Gallup asked the question: “When a person has a disease that cannot be cured, do you think doctors should be allowed by law to end the patient’s life by some painless means if the patient and his or her family request it?”

Though roughly 7 out of 10 respondents answered yes to this question, Gallup found there was slightly less support for legalized physician-assisted suicide. 

Though often used interchangeably, euthanasia and assisted suicide are different. Euthanasia refers to the practice of a medical professional or other person directly acting to end the life of a patient. Assisted suicide is the act of making the means of suicide — such as a lethal dose of medication — available to the patient, who subsequently acts on his or her own.

According to the study 66% of respondents said they thought doctors should “be allowed by law to assist the patient to commit suicide if the patient requests it.”

The study found that just over half — 53% — of American adults believe that doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable. Only 40% of Americans believe doctor-assisted suicide is morally wrong.

Gallup found that moral opinions on doctor-assisted suicide are closely tied to religious attendance and identity. The overwhelming majority — 77% — of those identifying with no religion and 67% of those attending religious services seldom or never believe doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable.

Meanwhile, 66% of those attending religious services weekly believe doctor-assisted suicide is morally wrong.

Support among Catholics is nearly split, with 49% of Catholics believing doctor-assisted suicide is morally wrong and 44% believing it is morally acceptable.

Support for legal euthanasia has about doubled from when Gallup first asked the question in 1947. At that time 37% of respondents said they favored legal euthanasia through painless means.

False dichotomy

French, who is on the board of advisers for the Catholic scientific organization the Magis Center, said that based on how the questions were phrased it is “no wonder so many people approve of euthanasia.”

“As we can see from how the two questions are framed, underlying is a false assumption that people are dying a very painful death,” he said. He believes that the idea that many patients facing the end of their lives must choose between a painful death and painless assisted suicide is a false dichotomy.

“As an emergency physician I have witnessed firsthand the vastly improved treatment of end-of-life pain as well as chronic pain and rare pain syndromes,” he said.

There have been “great strides” in hospice and palliative care as well as a “significant increase” in safe and effective pain relief medications, according to French. Because of this, he said that it is rare for a patient to receive inadequate pain treatment at the end of life.

Despite these technological and medicinal advancements, the trend in the U.S. has been toward expanding the legality of assisted suicide.

Federal law prohibits forced euthanasia but takes no stance on assisted suicide. Nine states — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington — and the District of Columbia have “medical aid in dying” (MAID) laws that allow assisted suicide. Several other states, such as Minnesota and Virginia, are also considering passing similar MAID laws.  

French explained that the result of laws such as these is a “slippery slope” in which patients of all ages who are experiencing depression, disability, or other issues are hastened toward death as the “preferred solution.”

The U.S. bishops have firmly denounced the practice of assisted suicide. In January, Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, wrote in a Word On Fire article that assisted suicide is “intrinsically evil” and “incapable of being morally sanctioned, no matter how extenuating the circumstances or how beneficial the consequences.”

“Though we place a huge premium on it in our culture, I don’t consider autonomy the supreme value. Authentic freedom is not radical self-determination; rather, it is ordered to certain goods that the mind has discerned,” Barron wrote. “Even if a dying person found himself in great pain, actively killing himself would not be morally justifiable.”