Pew Survey Shows Broad Moral Acceptance of Medical Aid in Dying — and a Key Shift in Language
A recent Pew Research Center report on Americans’ views of moral issues found that 63 percent of U.S. adults either view medical aid in dying as morally acceptable or do not consider it a moral issue. Thirty-five percent said it is morally wrong.
That finding is significant. The last time Pew asked about this issue, in 2013, their question used the phrase “doctor-assisted suicide.” Their survey showed views were closely divided: 47 percent in favor and 49 percent opposed.
Pew’s most recent survey was conducted in May 2025 — before Delaware, Illinois, and New York enacted medical aid-in-dying laws. Now, roughly one third of Americans live in jurisdictions where MAiD is authorized.
We believe this signals an important shift.
Words shape how people understand this option. For a respected organization like Pew to choose more descriptive and accurate terminology suggests that MAiD is becoming more widely understood, even as public conversation continues to evolve.
Words matter. Opponents often use the term “physician-assisted suicide.” This is inaccurate and inflammatory. Every state law authorizing medical aid in dying stipulates that the practice is not suicide. The U.S. model of MAiD applies only to terminally ill, mentally capable adults who meet strict eligibility requirements and who must be able to make the request themselves.
The distinction is not just legal. It is humane: it recognizes the lived reality of people facing terminal illness.
People who seek medical aid in dying are not choosing death instead of life. They are already dying. They are seeking the option to avoid unbearable suffering at the very end of life, in accordance with their own values, beliefs, and needs.
NHAELO and our national and statewide colleagues have been urging media outlets, policymakers, and the public to use accurate, neutral language: medical aid in dying. Pew’s report suggests that this language is becoming more widely understood, even as public conversation continues to evolve.
The Pew findings also show that support cuts across political and religious lines. That is consistent with polling here in New Hampshire. A 2024 UNH Survey Center poll found that majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and people from a range of faith traditions supported legislation allowing medical aid in dying as an option for eligible terminally ill adults.
For New Hampshire, the message is clear: this is not a fringe issue, and it is not a partisan one. It is a deeply personal end-of-life option that many people — across many backgrounds — believe should be available.
You can read the Pew Research Center report here, including its full survey wording and terminology note.