Poll cross confirms end of life choice support

A Colmar Brunton poll for TVNZ News on medical assistance in dying cross confirms earlier findings by Horizon Research.

A July 2019 survey of 1000 adults nationwide by Colmar Brunton finds 72% think a person who is terminally or incurrably ill should be able to request the assistance of a doctor to end their life.

20% thought they should not be allowed.

Though four months apart, the result is similar to one from Horizon Reseach's survey of 1,341 adults in April 2019 which found assistance for those suffering end-stage terminal illness was  74%.

This compared with 74.9% overall in May 2017.

In the April Horizon 2019 survey

• 44% strongly supported a law change
• 30% supported
• 5% were neutral
• 5% opposed and
• 13% strongly opposed
• Not were sure 2%

Horizon also found strong support for other measures, now being ruled out of the end of Life Choice bill before Parliament.

These include

Unbearable suffering:

Where such a request has come from a mentally competent patient, 18 years and over, who has irreversible unbearable suffering which may not cause death in the immediate future (e.g. motor neurone disease or some other degenerative or irreversible condition): 65% support, 19% oppose

Advance directives:

Allowing a competent person to write a legally enforceable and binding Advance Directive to allow medical assistance to die should the situations in situations 1 and 2 above occur after the patient becomes mentally incompetent (e.g. with severe brain injury): 66% support,19% oppose

Advanced dementia:

Legalising such a request for medically assisted death by Advance Directive, when a person is suffering from severely advanced dementia: 65% support, 20% oppose.

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