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In 2016, the District of Columbia passed the Death with Dignity Act, allowing physicians to prescribe a lethal dose of medicine to terminally ill patients. A framing analysis of religious and secular media coverage of the passing of the medical aid-in-dying bill was conducted. Four frames were found in the coverage: Preserving Rights, Culture War, Potential for Abuse, and Good Death vs. Bad Death. It was apparent that religious papers focused on the impact of the Death with Dignity Act by emphasizing potential problems for disadvantaged people and the expansion of the act to people who do not have a terminal illness. Positioning the act within culture as an attack on divine destiny created news frames that were based on the morality of the act. Assisted death violates divine "law" and potential problems with the act exaggerates this problem. Secular news was more balanced in the coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Framing analysis of the case in which Dontee Stokes shot Reverend Maurice Blackwell revealed three main themes in theBaltimore Sun:Harm Frame, in which Stokes was depicted as a victim;Apology/Admission Frame, which emphasized how the church and criminal justice system contributed to this case; andReligious Justice Frame, which evaluated the case by excusing Stokes's actions within the context of his religious beliefs. Findings suggest that when journalists are faced with abnormal crime stories, they resort to unconventional ideas while writing. Stokes's crime did not make sense and the media excused with religious justice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]