New British Poll Shows Clear Support For Assisted Suicide

British poll - 76 per cent support for assisted suicide, Feb. 21, 2010.

Living wills

Nearly half the population say they would draw up a "living will" if it was easy to do so, a new poll suggests.

The ICM survey also indicates that eight per cent of people have already made a living will – a written statement of what medical treatment they would like to have if they became terminally ill or so severely disabled that they could not communicate their wishes.

The figure rises to 14 per cent when it was asked if the person had a family member or a friend who had drawn up such a document.

The poll results, obtained exclusively by The Sunday Telegraph and which will be published tomorrow, show that, if it was easy to make a living will, 17 per cent would be "very likely" to write it while 30 per cent would be "quite likely" to do so – a total of 47 per cent.

In contrast, 29 per cent indicate they are "not very likely" to do so and 18 per cent are "not at all likely to do so" – also a total of 47 per cent. Six per cent of people of those polled say they "didn't know".

Assisted suicide

The poll comes ahead of guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service this week on when charges should be brought for assisting a suicide.

Keir Starmer QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, will publish his policy on Thursday and it will replace interim guidelines introduced last year.

The new poll also reveals that 76 per cent of people either "strongly agree" or "tend to agree" that a mentally-competent adult should be legally allowed to receive a doctor's assistance to die if they are suffering unbearably from a terminal illness from which they are expected to die within six months.

This finding is similar to those reported in two major polls published and broadcast three weeks ago by The Daily Telegraph and the BBC.

More than 80 per cent of people questioned in a YouGov poll for The Daily Telegraph said relatives of terminally-ill people, who had made it clear they wanted to die, should not be prosecuted.

Three quarters of those polled said the law should be amended to allow assisted suicide, a crime currently punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

According to a poll by ComRes, carried out for the BBC's Panorama programme, 73 per cent of people agreed that family or friends should not fear prosecution if they help a loved one to die.

The latest poll results will by published tomorrow by the Society for Old Age Rational Suicide (SOARS), a group which was formed two months ago to

campaign to get the law changed so that elderly, mentally competent individuals, who are suffering unbearably from health problems, are allowed to receive a doctor's help to commit suicide, if this is their persistent request.

The poll also shows that 67 per cent either "strongly agree" or "tend to agree" that very elderly, but rational, people who are suffering unbearably from health problems should be able to have a doctor's assisted suicide – even if they are not terminally ill.

Dr Michael Irwin, the coordinator of SOARS and a former chairman of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, said of this finding: "This is a far greater per cent than I had imagined – now there should be serious discussion, in the UK, about helping this group of individuals, in addition to the present debate on doctor-assisted suicide for those who are terminally ill."

Dr Irwin welcomed the figures for those who have already taken out living wills and those who say they would do so if it was easy. He said there were moral and economic grounds for supporting living wills.

"While it is interesting that eight per cent of those polled already have living wills, it is even more important that 47 per cent, who do not yet have such a document, seem keen to have one," he said.

One of SOARS' main aims is to get society to re-evaluate the word "suicide". Dr Irwin said: "Today, many shy away from this word. Antagonism to 'suicide' dates back mainly to previous centuries when religious influences decided that the act was sinful.

"We want to reclaim it now as being a rational and positive act for a mentally competent, very elderly individual who has carefully considered the main pros and cons for wanting to stay alive."

Niall Gooch, a spokesman for Life, the pro-life and anti-abortion charity, said: "Because this is such a complex issue polling is of limited value. Policy makers should beware of polling.

"When people are given more information about the possible downsides and pitfalls [of assisted suicides], the number in favour declines.

"There are many issues to with the protection of the vulnerable, sick and disabled that people do not immediately consider."

By Andrew Alderson, The Telegraph