Physician-Assisted Suicide

Finnish physician support for allowing PAS was lower than for euthanasia, with only 18% fully agreeing that physicians should be able to assist patients in suicide. Finland shows an unusual reversal from international norms: Finnish physicians supported euthanasia legalisation more than PAS legalisation, whereas in most countries the opposite is true. Among Finnish physicians willing to personally participate, there was a paradoxical preference for assisting in suicide over performing euthanasia, despite lower overall support for PAS legalisation. Very few Finnish physicians agreed that physicians should be punished for assisting in suicide, with only 7% fully agreeing. Almost half of Finnish physicians fully agreed that legislation should actively ensure physicians are not prosecuted for assisting in suicide, indicating broad support for legal protection even among those personally opposed.