Gender, Pain, and Doctor Involvement: High School Student Attitudes Toward Doctor-Assisted Suicide

The attitudes of high school students toward physician-assisted suicide were studied using hypothetical scenarios. Physician-assisted suicides thoroughly discussed with the patient were judged to be more moral, acceptable and “legal” than those simply accepted or encouraged by the physician. The presence of both physical & emotional pain made assisted suicide more acceptable. Respondents tended to view deaths of patients of the opposite gender as more acceptable than patients of the same gender.