NV Poll Shows Record Statewide Support for Medical Aid-in-Dying Bill Before Senate Vote Today

Las Vegas Mom with Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer, Lead Bill Sponsor Urge Passage of Legislation

Apr 19, 2023 Nevada

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A record 82% of Nevada voters support legislation that would give terminally ill Nevadans the option of medical aid in dying to gently end their suffering, according to a new poll released today. The poll release is timely because the Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill today.

Compassion & Choices Action Network sponsored the poll of 600 registered Nevada voters, conducted April 10-13 by Susquehanna Polling & Research, a  GOP firm that  correctly predicted Joe Lombardo would win the razor-close 2022 Nevada governor's race within .3% of the final polling margin and tied for first in  Real Clear Politics ratings of the most accurate multi-state pollsters nationwide in 2020. The prior statewide survey on the issue by Public Policy Polling in 2021 showed 72% support for a medical aid-in-dying bill.

Nearly four out of five poll respondents (79%) said they personally wanted the option of medical aid in dying if they had an incurable, terminal illness (Question 4 in the poll). Support for medical aid in dying as a personal option is broad-based and includes majorities in key voter groups, including: 

  • 78% of self-identified Republican voters, 76% of self-identified Democratic voters, and 76% of self-identified Independent voters, who are unaffiliated or have no connection to a major political party. (Nevada registered Independent and Non-Partisan voters outnumber registered Republican voters or Democrat voters.)  
  • 83% of self-identified “pro-choice” voters on abortion.
  • 72% of self-identified “pro-life” voters on abortion.
  • 79% of voters with disabilities.
  • 78% of gun-owner voters.
  • 77% of Catholics
  • 80% of Protestants and majorities of voters in other religions. (Catholics and Protestants currently account for more than 2 in 3 registered voters in Nevada.) 
  • 79% of White voters.
  • 84% of non-White voters, which include Latino, Asian, and Black voters.
  • 83% of voters in Pershing County, Lander County, Eureka County, Storey County, Mineral County, Esmeralda County, and Lincoln County.
  • 80% of Clark County voters.
  • 79% of voters in Carson City, Churchill County, Douglas County, Elko County, Humboldt County, Lyon County, Nye County, and White Pine County.
  • 74% of Washoe County voters.

“I pray this poll spurs our Nevada lawmakers to pass a medical aid-in-dying law this year, in time for seriously ill Nevadans like me who desperately need this option,” said Lynda Brooks-Bracey, a 57-year-old mother of four in Las Vegas with metastatic pancreatic cancer. “If their constituents’ overwhelming support for medical aid in dying doesn’t persuade lawmakers to pass this compassionate legislation, I don’t know what will.” 

Lynda Brooks Bracey smiling while laying in a hospital bed.

Lynda Brooks-Bracey

 

“What this polling shows is Nevadans are united in supporting the option of medical aid in dying and it's important to them personally,” said the primary bill sponsor with 18 other sponsors of Nevada’s medical aid-in-dying legislation,the End of Life Options Act (SB239), Senator Edgar Flores. “And that's why it's so critical that we pass this bill this year for terminally ill Nevadans who need this option now. It's an issue of bodily autonomy, caring, compassion, empathy, and liberty.”

Eleven jurisdictions have authorized medical aid in dying, including ten states — California, Colorado, Hawai‘i, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington — as well as Washington, D.C. Collectively, these 11 jurisdictions represent one out of five U.S. residents (22%) and have decades of combined experience successfully implementing this medical practice.  The Nevada End of Life Option Act is modeled after the Oregon Death with Dignity Act,which has been in effect for a quarter of a century without a single proven instance of abuse or coercion.

You can read pollster’s one-page memo summarizing the results at: compassionandchoices.org/docs/default-source/nevada/pollmemo-candc-nv-spr-april23-(1).pdf

You can check out a graphic summary of the poll results at: compassionandchoices.org/docs/default-source/nevada/nv-polling-fs-8.5x11-final-4.18.23.pdf

You can read topline results of the poll at: compassionandchoices.org/docs/default-source/nevada/toplines-cc-nevada-april2023-(1).pdf

You can read detailed crosstab results of the poll at: https://compassionandchoices.sitefinity.cloud/docs/default-source/nevada/nevada_crosstabs_23.pdf

About Compassion & Choices/Compassion & Choices Action Network:

Compassion & Choices is comprised of two organizations that improve care and expand options at life’s end: Compassion & Choices (501(c)(3)) educates, empowers, defends, and advocates; the Compassion & Choices Action Network (501(c)(4)) focuses exclusively on legislation, ballot campaigns, and limited electoral work.

Paid for by Compassion & Choices Action Network.