(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Opposition to euthanasia has grown in Chile but supporters of this course of action are still the majority, according to a poll by Ipsos. 57 per cent of respondents agree with "assisted death" in cases of terminal or incurable diseases, down 7.5 points since June.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Opposition to euthanasia has grown in Chile but supporters of this course of action are still the majority, according to a poll by Ipsos. 57 per cent of respondents agree with "assisted death" in cases of terminal or incurable diseases, down 7.5 points since June.
Conversely, 40.4 per cent of respondents disagree with euthanasia, up 8.1 points since June.
Chile has been traditionally regarded as one of the most conservative countries in the Americas. In May 2004, then Chilean president Ricardo Lagos authorized a law that allowed divorce in the South American country for the first time. Homosexuality was legalized in 1998, but the country does not have an anti-discrimination law pertaining to sexual orientation. Euthanasia is not legal in Chile.
Michelle Bachelet—a former defence minister—was elected in a January 2006 run-off as the candidate for the centre-left Agreement of Parties for Democracy (CPD) with 53.49 per cent of all cast ballots. She officially took over as president in March 2006.
A new presidential election will take place in Chile on Dec. 11. Former president Eduardo Frei Ruiz Tagle is the CPD’s consensus candidate.
In order to introduce more progressive policies in an eventual new government, the CPD has launched a national consultation that includes questions on abortion, nuclear energy, same-sex marriage and euthanasia, among other sensitive issues.
The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Thailand allow for some form of euthanasia, as well as the states of Oregon and Washington in the United States.
On Oct. 31, conservative presidential candidate Sebastián Piñera of the Alliance for Chile (AC) presented a campaign booklet called "30 Commitments with the Evangelical Christian World," in which he stresses his "support for life" from conception until natural death.
Polling Data
Do you agree or disagree with euthanasia or "assisted death" in cases of terminal or incurable diseases?
|
|
Oct. 2009
|
Jun. 2009
|
|
Agree
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57.0%
|
64.5%
|
|
Disagree
|
40.4%
|
32.3%
|
|
Not sure
|
2.6%
|
3.3%
|
Source: Ipsos
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,522 Chilean adults, conducted from Sept. 16 to Oct. 6, 2009. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.
