Poll: Most Americans Say Suicide Is Wrong — But Many Support Physician-Assisted Suicide Anyway

Bioethics, Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, , , , ,

A new Gallup poll shows most Americans believe suicide in general is morally wrong, but opinions are split over physician-assisted suicide.

Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey measures Americans’ views on a wide variety of behaviors — like gambling, human cloning, divorce, and so on.

This year’s survey found 70% of Americans say suicide is morally wrong, which is a strong majority.

But here’s the contradiction: views on “doctor-assisted suicide” are nearly evenly split, with a staggering 49% of Americans saying physician-assisted suicide is morally acceptable.

It seems like many people may believe that suicide is wrong — except in certain cases or when a doctor assists with the suicide. That should concern every pro-life Arkansan.

Physician-assisted suicide is typically sold to the public as a “compassionate” option for people facing terminal illness. But experience has shown that assisted suicide doesn’t help people who are sick or dying, and it doesn’t remain limited to a few cases.

In Oregon — the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide back in 1997 — a record 637 lethal prescriptions were written last year. Of those patients, only two were referred for psychiatric evaluation before receiving a prescription for suicide. That is a serious failure.

Data shows many of these patients are lonely and feel like they are losing control over their lives. They need counseling and support — not a deadly prescription.

Assisted suicide fundamentally changes the doctor-patient relationship from healing to killing. The Hippocratic Oath promises to “first, do no harm.” Prescribing lethal drugs violates that sacred trust.

The slippery slope is real. In Canada, Belgium, and Netherlands, assisted suicide has expanded far beyond rare, terminal illnesses. Canada is on pace to record its 100,000th assisted suicide death this summer. What starts as a “compassionate choice” eventually becomes routine killing.

In parts of the U.S. where physician-assisted suicide is legal, insurance companies have refused to pay for patients’ medical care, but have offered to cover assisted suicide drugs.

Being pro-life means believing innocent human life is sacred from conception until natural death. Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide violate the sanctity of innocent human life.

That’s why Family Council has strongly opposed assisted suicide legislation in Arkansas. In 2019 and 2021, Arkansas lawmakers wisely rejected very bad end-of-life legislation. Family Council worked closely with our friends in the legislature to stop those proposals.

Gallup’s survey shows Americans understand that suicide is wrong. We should remember that holds true even when activists try to dress it up as “medicine.”

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Republican Congressmen Introduce Measures to Prevent Sex-Offenders, Foreign Nationals from Acquiring Children Through Surrogacy

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Earlier this month, more than a dozen GOP congressmen co-sponsored legislation preventing sex-offenders from acquiring children through surrogacy and prohibiting foreign nationals from entering into surrogacy contracts in the U.S.

Federal law prohibits sex-offenders from adopting children, but the law does not address commercial surrogacy contracts.

Last year, news outlets reported that a sex-offender convicted of crimes involving children was able to obtain a child through surrogacy in Pennsylvania as a result of loopholes in state and federal regulations.

News outlets also report Chinese nationals are exploiting America’s largely unregulated surrogacy industry to acquire children born in the U.S.

On June 3, Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA-10) along with several co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives filed legislation to close these loopholes in U.S. surrogacy law.

The federal Protecting Kids from Creeps Act would “prohibit surrogacy agencies from facilitating surrogacy contracts with sex offenders,” and H.R. 9132 would “prohibit foreign nationals from entering into or enforcing surrogacy contracts in the United States.”

It’s bad when commercial surrogacy “goes wrong” because of loopholes in state or federal law — but it’s important to remember that surrogacy never “goes right” either.

Commercial surrogacy deliberately deprives children of their biological mothers or fathers.

It treats pregnancy like a “service” that can be purchased.

It exploits women by treating them like commodities, and it exploits children by treating them like products that can be made to order and sold for profit.

Human beings are not products that can be made to order, bought, and sold. That’s why Family Council opposes commercial surrogacy — and why we will continue to oppose it.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Suicide Advocates Continue to Promote “Medical Aid in Dying” in U.S. and Abroad

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Advocates for assisted suicide continue to promote laws letting people receive prescriptions for lethal drugs.

In Ohio, legislators recently introduced an assisted suicide measure, arguing that “medical aid in dying” provides terminally ill people with a compassionate option. But our friends at the Center for Christian Virtue (CCV) rightly called the legislation “a Trojan horse for mandated death” that would pressure vulnerable people to end their lives via assisted suicide.

Experiences elsewhere have shown CCV’s concerns about assisted suicide are spot on.

In 1997, Oregon became the first state in America to legalize physician-assisted suicide, and since then policymakers have worked to make it easier for people to receive prescriptions for lethal drugs. In fact, a record 637 lethal prescriptions for assisted suicide were written in Oregon last year.

But out of those hundreds of patients, only two were referred for psychiatric evaluation before being given a prescription for suicide. That is a serious failure.

Besides failing to address patients’ mental and emotional health concerns, there is evidence that many may people feel financially pressured to opt for assisted suicide. More than one in 20 people (6%) who asked for assisted suicide in Oregon last year said they were concerned about the financial implications of medical treatment. That’s deeply concerning.

Despite these problems, supporters of assisted suicide have pushed to expand it globally. Forbes reports:

“In Belgium, nearly 4,500 patients died from medically-assisted suicide in 2025, accounting for 4% of all deaths. And in Spain, more than 1,000 patients received physician-assisted death last year. Other countries—including Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria—have also legalized medically assisted dying. In the United Kingdom, the House of Commons passed an assisted-dying bill that has since stalled in the House of Lords.

“What’s notable is not just the growth of these programs but their scope.

“In some countries, eligibility has expanded beyond patients who are terminally ill to include those with chronic conditions or, in rare cases, severe psychological distress.”

Patients who are in distress need counseling and support — not a deadly prescription.

Experience has shown that assisted suicide doesn’t help people who are sick or dying, and it doesn’t remain limited to a few cases.

In the U.S., insurance companies have refused to pay for patients’ medical care, but have offered to cover assisted suicide drugs.

Patients in Europe and Canada reportedly have been denied care or actively euthanized as a result of assisted suicide laws.

In some countries, assisted suicide and euthanasia are driving palliative care specialists to quit. That hurts everyone.

Assisted suicide fundamentally changes the doctor-patient relationship from healing to killing.

The Hippocratic Oath promises to “first, do no harm.” Prescribing lethal drugs violates that sacred trust.

All of this underscores why Family Council has strongly opposed assisted suicide in Arkansas.

Being pro-life means believing innocent human life is sacred from conception until natural death.

Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide violate the sanctity of innocent human life.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

READ MORE