Poll finds that people in France prefer improving palliative care over legalizing euthanasia.

A poll published today in France by Génèthique.org found that 60% of the respondents would like to focus on the development of palliative care over the legalization of euthanasia.

The Poll stated:

According to a BVA poll, conducted in particular by the Chamber of Notaries of Paris and published January 24, 2012, French public opinion has shifted on the ethical and social issues related to surrogacy and euthanasia.

As for the "right" to euthanasia, 84% of respondents declare that they recognize a "right" to euthanasia for people with incurable, terminal, and the claimant. In a similar survey in 2009, they were a little more, 86%, share this view. Moreover, the opinion poll of 2011 Way of Opinion found that 60% of French people would like to focus on the development of palliative care over the legalization of euthanasia.

It is important to note that a similar poll in Canada found that 71% of the respondents thought that the government should focus on improving palliative care over the legalization of euthanasia and only 5% thought the government should legalize euthanasia and improve palliative care.

People state that they support the legalization of euthanasia or assisted suicide out of the fear of dying a bad death. This fear is often related to personal experience. Our polling has found that very few people strongly support the legalization of euthanasia or assisted suicide while the majority of people want to reduce their fears with improvements to end-of-life care.