Attitudes to assisted dying among doctors in Norway.

Abstract

Background: Assisted dying (euthanasia and assisted suicide) is illegal in Norway. The views of doctors in Norway on assisted dying were last examined in 2016. We have now conducted a new survey to map doctors' attitudes to assisted dying.

Material and method: Survey of a sample of practising doctors. The doctors were asked to take a stance on six statements about the legalisation of assisted dying and three statements about their willingness to carry out or aid assisted dying, as well as their views on the right to decline.

Results: The response rate was 2010/2534 (79.3 %), and responses from 2004 doctors under 70 years of age were included. A total of 723 (36.1 %) doctors strongly disagreed with the statement 'physician-assisted suicide should be allowed for patients with a terminal illness and short life expectancy', while 232 (11.6 %) strongly agreed. Older respondents were more likely to oppose legalisation. A total of 410 (20.5 %) doctors were willing to aid physician-assisted suicide, and 1796 (89.6 %) wanted the right to conscientiously object to assisted dying in the event of legalisation.

Interpretation: A large proportion of doctors in Norway are opposed to legalising assisted dying. However, there seems to be a shift towards decreasing opposition to legalisation since 2016.