Assisted dying: the influence of public opinion in an increasingly diverse society.
Attitudes to questions of whether physician-assisted dying should be legalised in the UK, reflect one of the greatest challenges to moral stance in health care for both individuals and professional bodies, not least as indicated by public opinion. However, public opinion is a seductively deceptive notion, seemingly readily identifiable but in practice multifarious. At best, consensus regarding public opinion and assisted dying is illusory, sometimes transient and what is relevant in this matter is a comprehension of both majority (popular) opinion and vocal dissent, but which do not them selves have a simple relationship with Parliamentary attitudes and legislation. Arguably, an increasingly important consideration to take account of is the influence of increasing population diversity.
Badcott
David
D
Centre for Applied Ethics, Cardiff University, Humanities Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU, UK. badcottd@cf.ac.uk
D001293:Attitude to Death; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005065:Euthanasia; D006801:Humans; D011639:Public Opinion; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D017236:Suicide, Assisted; D006113:United Kingdom