Ethical Rights surveyed voluntary assisted dying advocates throughout 2020–2021 on many of the ethical issues, policy/regulatory issues and individual preferences that arise in the public debate on voluntary assisted dying (VAD, also voluntary euthanasia, medical aid in dying, physician-assisted suicide). As VAD advocates, their views on what VAD regulatory systems should look like, summarised as key messages in the Summary Report below, are highly relevant.

A total of 1640 respondents from 31 countries responded to the survey. Respondents’ views were sought on many issues, including for example, whether VAD should be a right for all adults, whether being terminally ill should be an eligibility criterion (necessary condition) for regulated VAD, and what ought to be the role of doctors, if any, in VAD. 

The survey also expands the VAD debate through obtaining respondents’ views on challenging issues, such as whether there are any attributes that could make a person automatically ineligible for voluntary assisted dying, such as being a convicted criminal, being a child, being pregnant, or having dementia. 

Their website offers four pdf documents for download, the survey’s Summary Report, Results, Supplementary Material and Survey Questions respectively. 

Read more and download the survey documents

[Source: Ethical Rights]