Relationships among assisted suicide and religiousness, resources available, denial of dying, and autonomy

A nonrandom sample of eligible voters in Michigan (N = 218; mean age 35.7 yr.) anonymously completed a questionnaire during the two weeks prior to voting on a ballot proposal endorsing physician-assisted suicide. Favoring assisted suicide correlated negatively with scores on religiousness, believing that only a troubled mind would favor assisted suicide and that vulnerable individuals would suffer were assisted suicide legal, with denial of dying, and with resources available during one's final years. Favoring assisted suicide correlated positively with indicating this to be a medical rather than moral issue, making one's own decisions on moral issues, and believing that people may have different opinions on assisted suicide. The role of experience with dying needs further study.