News

VANCOUVER, Dec 18 (LSN)—A poll on euthanasia released Monday saying that 70 per cent of Canadianssupport doctor assisted suicide is untrue according to Dr. Will Johnston, co-chair of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition of BC (EPC). Dr. Johnston pointed out that the Pollara poll, sponsored by Southam and Global news organizations, was “inaccurate” because it failed to define “doctor-assisted suicide”. ” Our results show many people still don’t understand terms like euthanasia and doctor- assisted suicide,” said Dr. Johnston. He suggests most people believe these terms refer to stopping artificial life support.

Johnston noted that results from a poll conducted in June of this year by EPC demonstrate that “There is no consensus about so-called mercy-killing… but there is definitely a public consensus for better palliative care services to relieve the suffering of dying persons.” The results of the EPC poll suggested that 71 per cent of the public were opposed to assisted suicide when it was more clearly defined. It did, however, show a very slight majority in favour of legalizing euthanasia when defined as the deliberate ending of life by a pill overdose or lethal injection.

Last month EPC criticized an Angus Reid-CTV poll which claimed 76% support for euthanasia. “Canadians will suffer if serious legislative change is made based on misrepresentation of Canadian public opinion,” Dr. Johnston said.