Medical and Religious Factors affecting Physician-assisted Suicide (PAS) Policies in the United States: A Logistic Regression Study

Virginia C. Hughes^1,

¹University of Delaware

Cite this paper:
Virginia C. Hughes. Medical and Religious Factors affecting Physician-assisted Suicide (PAS) Policies in the United States: A Logistic Regression Study. American Journal of Public Health Research. 2023; 11(1):38-43. doi: 10.12691/ajphr-11-1-6

Abstract

Persons diagnosed with a terminal illness are faced with a panoply of arduous challenges and decisions that intrinsically affect their quality of life. Terminal patients have the option to end their life under the auspices of Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) in ten states and the District of Columbia. Physician-assisted suicide can be described as a physician facilitating a patient’s death by providing the necessary means and/or information to enable the patient to perform the life ending act. States that allow PAS include California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. A logistic regression study was conducted to investigate factors that may impact PAS laws including Catholicism, cancer mortality rate, pancreatic cancer rate, cervical cancer rate, colon cancer rate, brain cancer rate, leukemia, and liver cancer rate. The unit of analysis was state. Statistical significance was found with the liver cancer and cervical cancer rates (P<.05). This paper delineates PAS state laws and provides insight for the origins of laws, timelines, and moral discourse.

Keywords:
end-of-life issues autonomy cancer rates religion

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