Majority Disapprove
of Catholic Hospitals’ Stance on Assisted Dying
Half want public funds withheld
In a random sampling
of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 1124 Ontario voters, the
majority disapprove of the practice of publicly funded Catholic Hospitals who
refuse to allow patients to seek a referral for assisted dying (57%), and this
position is especially characteristic of the youngest (62%), the very
wealthiest ($100K to $250K - 64%), among Liberals (63%) and New Democrats
(73%). Approval of the hospitals’ position (27%) is characteristic of mid
income groups ($60K to $80K - 31%) the city of Toronto (31%) and among PCs
(39%).
Half want public funding withheld until hospitals change
One half of Ontario
voters want Catholic hospitals to be denied public funding until they allow
patients to seek referrals for assistance in dying (47%), and 4-in-10 think the
opposite (39%). Wanting funding withheld is common to the youngest (52%) the
wealthiest ($80K to $250K - 53%), northern Ontario (57%), among New Democrats
(54%) and college graduates (52%).
“The concept of
fairness is ingrained in our perceptions of public services, and when citizens
see institutions which flout the law receiving public money, it bothers them.
The dissonance between public values and Catholic values will always be an
irritant in Ontario, as long as Catholic institutions receive public
funding" said Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff.
Lorne Bozinoff,
Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at
lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
