The support was strongest towards assisted suicide conducted by a doctor, when the patient described had a terminal illness with short life expectancy.
In a new survey initiated by the Medical Ethics Council, researchers at the Center for Medical Ethics at the University of Oslo, Oslo University Hospital and NHH Norwegian School of Economics asked a representative selection of the Norwegian population about their attitudes towards the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Morten Magelssen, associate professor, Center for Medical Ethics, the University of Oslo. Photo: Private
Euthanasia means that a healthcare professional causes a person's death on purpose, by injecting a lethal drug at the person's request.
Assisted suicide is helping to cause the person's death by providing lethal drugs that the person can take themselves, at the person's request.
In Norway, euthanasia and assisted sucicide is illegal, and is defined by law as murder or helping someone to commit suicide.
– The past few years, several countries, including Spain and Austria, have legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide. It is interesting to do research on what the Norwegian population thinks about this topic too, Morten Magelssen says.
He is an associate professor at the Center for Medical Ethics at UiO.
The degree of support for legalization varies, depending on the state of the patient
– This is the most thorough survey of Norwegians' attitudes towards legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide that has been done, Magelssen says.
In the study, the researchers found that the degree of support for legalization varies, depending on the patient state described in the survey.
The support was strongest towards doctor-assisted suicide when the patient described had a terminal illness with short life expectancy.
– Here, about one out of three strongly agreed and one out of three slightly agreed with the legalization of assisted suicide, while around one out of ten strongly disagreed and one out of ten slightly disagreed. The 30-44 years old age group was the most positive towards legalization, Magelssen says.
New study shows nuances in Norwegians' attitudes towards euthanasia and assisted suicide
– As in previous surveys, there was considerable support for the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide, but in this survey, it was possible to grade the support from "I slightly agree" to "I strongly agree". This means that we could show nuances in people's attitudes towards this topic, Magelssen says.
If the researchers combined those who "strongly agreed" and "somewhat agreed" to legalization of doctor-assisted suicide for patients with terminal illnesses with short life expectancy, seven out of ten were in favor of legalizing assisted suicide. But is it correct to understand this as a confirmation that they all wanted euthanasia and assited suicide to be legalized?
– It is unprecise to classify people who "somewhat agree" as being "in favor of euthanasia and assisted suicide", Magelssen explains.
– Both those who "slightly disagree", "slightly agree", and those in the middle who answered "I neither agree, nor disagree" can be said to have an unclear opinion on the issue of legalizing euthanasia. They can be influenced by good arguments from both sides of the debate, he concludes.
References
Aarseth S, Horn M, Magelssen M, Supphellen M. Nordmenns holdninger til legalisering av dødshjelp. Michael 2023, 20: 23-33.
