Most Brazilians are against assisted death, but the option to interrupt treatment divides the country, shows Datafolha

When the question is about interrupting treatments for diseases with no chance of cure, the population is divided, according to a Datafolha survey, the first to survey public opinion on the topic in the country.

The survey interviewed 2,050 people in 137 municipalities in all regions of Brazil, on the 3rd and 4th of August. The margin of error is 2 percentage points, plus or minus, within the 95% confidence level.

In relation to euthanasia, 56% said they were against it, with 45% completely against it and 11% partially against it, while 39% said they were in favor, of which 22% were completely in favor and 17% partially in favor. Another 2% did not take a position, and 3% did not know how to respond.

Regarding assisted suicide, rejection is greater. Of the total, 60% said they were against, with 50% completely against and 10% partially against, while 35% said they were in favor, of which 22% were completely in favor and 13% partially in favor. Another 2% did not take a position, and 3% did not know how to respond.

When the question deals with the interruption of treatments that only prolong life artificially, with no chance of a cure, at the request of the patient or family, the result is a tie: 48% think that doctors should be able to interrupt these treatments, and 48% think that they should not. The remaining 5% were unable to answer. The sum exceeds 100% for rounding reasons.

The survey also tested a broader formulation, without directly mentioning the role of a doctor, asking whether respondents agree or disagree with the statement that each person should be able to decide on the end of their own life, including the time and manner of death, even if this means hastening death.

Of the total, 51% disagreed, 40% completely and 11% in part, while 46% agreed, 28% completely and 18% in part. Only 1% did not take a position, and 2% did not know how to respond. Considering the margin of error, the difference between the two groups is the narrowest in the research, disregarding the previous tie.

Finally, when asked, in general, whether they consider it morally acceptable or morally wrong for a doctor to help a terminally ill patient end his own life at his request, 51% said they considered it morally wrong, and 42%, morally acceptable. The option "depends on the situation" was chosen by 4% of respondents; another 3% were unable to answer.

The sample is made up of 48% Catholics and 27% evangelicals. Another 13% say they have no religion, 8% say they belong to other religions, 2% are spiritualists or Kardecists and 2% practice Umbanda.

In the moral judgment about a doctor helping a terminally ill patient to die, the percentage of those who consider the conduct morally acceptable ranges from 34% among evangelicals to 57% among those who have no religion, with Catholics (41%) and practitioners of other religions (46%) in an intermediate position. This same pattern is repeated in the other questions.

Age is the factor that most differentiates the opinion of those interviewed. In the same question, 63% of people aged 16 to 24 consider the conduct to be morally acceptable, a percentage that drops to 48% for those aged 25 to 34, 43% for those aged 35 to 44, 38% for those aged 45 to 59 and 29% for those aged 60 or over. The same pattern of decline, generation after generation, is repeated in the other questions.

The survey has no historical comparison parameter, as it is the first to survey public opinion on the subject in Brazil. It is not possible, for example, to say whether the perception on the subject changed before and after a well-known case, such as the death of writer Antonio Cícero, who resorted to assisted suicide at the age of 79, in Switzerland.

Brazil, unlike some Latin American neighbors, does not have legislation or bills in progress to legalize the practice, which lawyer specializing in medical law Luciana Dadalto attributes to a silence on the issue in the country.

Only in 2025 was Eu Decido founded, the first Brazilian association in favor of the right to assisted death, chaired by Dadalto.

In Latin America, three countries already allow some form of assisted death: Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay.

Colombia was a pioneer in the region. The Constitutional Court decriminalized euthanasia in 1997, expanded the right in 2021 to include patients without a terminal illness and, in 2022, also decriminalized physician-assisted suicide, becoming the only Latin American country to allow both types of assisted death, although it still faces bureaucratic obstacles that make access difficult in practice.

Ecuador had euthanasia authorized by the Constitutional Court in February 2024 and regulated by the Ministry of Health two months later. The Legislature, however, has not yet approved a specific law on the topic, and the project remains under debate in the National Assembly.

Uruguay was the first country in the region to legalize euthanasia through a law approved in Parliament, and not through a court decision. Law 20,431 was approved in October 2025, but only came into effect in practice when the regulation came into force, in April 2026. The country had its first case in May this year, involving a patient with terminal cancer.

Peru is in judicial debate on the issue, without approved legislation, and Cuba opened a legal path conditioned on its new health law, but it still depends on specific regulations for the practice to be actually applied.

In Brazil, euthanasia is considered a crime of homicide, provided for in article 121 of the Penal Code, with a sentence of 6 to 20 years. Paragraph 1 of the text states that the agent who commits the crime is driven by reasons of relevant social or moral value, which can be interpreted as an attempt to stop the suffering of a given patient whose condition