Public Opinions on Assisted Suicide

New research, conducted by Ipsos for Dignity in Dying, investigates the both the public's opinion on the current law governing assisted suicide, as well as the opinions of Members of Parliament (MPs) on whether doctors who assist terminally ill, but mentally competent, adult patients to die should be prosecuted.

For further details on this research, please see the Dignity in Dying website.

Technical Notes

General Public:

• Ipsos interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,755 English and Welsh adults, aged 18+ across England and Wales between 5th and 11th June 2009
• All figures presented are based on 1,755 respondents unless otherwise stated
• Interviews were conducted face-to-face using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing) equipment. Data were weighted to match the known population profile
• All figures quoted are percentages
• Where figures do not sum to 100 percent, this may be due to computer rounding or multiple response answers
• * represents a figure greater than zero, but less than 0.5%

MPs:

• Fieldwork dates: 8 June – 31 July 2009
• 112 MPs answered the Dignity in Dying questions (Labour 66, Conservative 29 and Others 17) 
• Interviews were conducted face-to-face, and the total sample interviewed is closely representative of the House. Based on those asked each question, data has been individually weighted where necessary to reflect the true balance by party and ministerial or spokesperson position