(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Fewer adults in the United States believe doctors should be allowed by law to end a patient's life by some painless means, according to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today. 69 per cent of respondents agree with the rationale if a patient with an incurable disease requests it, down six points in a year.

Support for euthanasia is lower when the word "suicide" is used to describe the actions. 64 per cent of respondents believe doctors should be allowed by law to assist persons who have a disease that cannot be cured and are living in severe pain to commit suicide, up six points in a year.

Doctor-assisted suicide became a controversial topic in the U.S. in the 1990s, after Jack Kevorkian—a doctor who claims to have helped more than 100 people end their lives—became a fervent supporter for the right to die.

In March 1999, Kevorkian was found guilty of second-degree murder and delivery of a controlled substance for administering lethal drugs to Thomas Youk, who suffered from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Kevorkian will be eligible for parole in 2007.

In the United States, the state of Oregon legalized assisted suicide in 1994. In July 2005, a bill that would have allowed adults with less than six months to live the right to obtain lethal drugs from a doctor and take them themselves to end their own lives was defeated in the California State Legislature.

Earlier this month, Californian lawmakers began debating a new bill that seeks to allow assisted suicide in the Golden State. In January, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger hinted at a possible veto, declaring, "This is a decision probably that should go to the people, like the death penalty or other big issues. I don't think that we, 120 legislators and (myself), should make that decision."

Polling Data

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 family request it?

When a person has a disease that cannot be cured and is living in severe pain, do you think doctors should or should not be allowed by law to assist the patient to commit suicide if the patient requests it?

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