Washington Poll Finds Strong Support for Assisted Suicide Ballot Proposal
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 15, 2008
Olympia, WA (LifeNews.com) — A new poll of Washington state voters finds strong support for a November ballot proposal that would make it the second in the nation to legalize assisted suicide. The polling results should serve as a motivation for pro-life, medical and disability rights groups to work overtime to educate voters.
The poll, sponsored by KING 5 and conducted by Survey USA, was taken from August 11 to 12 and includes 1,000 adults and 718 likely voters.
On Initiative 1000, 51 percent of those polled said they were leaning towards supporting the measure while just 26 percent were leaning against it. Another 23 percent of voters are undecided.
Earlier this month, a statewide Elway Poll of Washington voters showed so many undecided that neither side had a majority.
Some 39 percent of those polled said they favor the assisted suicide measure while 26 percent opposed it.
The results of the new poll come as Sister Sharon Park of the Washington State Catholic Conference says the group plans to infuse significant funding into the campaign against the measure to respond to the hundreds of thousands of dollars coming in from out of state for it.
Duane French, a quadriplegic and director of Not Dead Yet in Washington, recently told the National Catholic Register he’s upset so much out of state money is coming to his state to urge people to kill themselves.
He said, "To all the people in California and New York who sent money so we in Washington can more easily kill ourselves, I think we have to say, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’"
In addition to pro-life groups and organizations representing the disabled, the Washington State Medical Association is also opposed to I-1000.
"We believe physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the role of physicians as healers," says its president, Dr. Brian Wicks. "Patients put their trust in physicians, and that bond of trust would be irrevocably harmed by the provisions of this dangerous initiative."
Related web sites:
Washington Coalition Against Assisted Suicide – https://www.noassistedsuicide.com
Human Life of Washington — https://www.humanlife.net
Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com
Daily Pro-Life News Report Twice-Weekly Pro-Life
News Report Receive a free daily email report from LifeNews.com with the latest pro-life news stories on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here. Receive a free twice-weekly email report with the latest pro-life news headlines on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here.
