“Active assistance in dying”: this was decided by the Citizens’ Convention

” A turning point has been taken, marking the end of the deliberative phase. There is still work and debates said Claire Thoury, chair of the governance committee of the Citizens’ Convention on End of Life. Commissioned by the government, this convention brings together 184 citizens chosen by lot, who must, by March 19, answer the question posed by the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne: “Is the end of life support framework adapted to the different situations encountered or should changes be introduced? »

This Sunday, February 19, after more than two months of consultations, 167 voted: 84% believe that the ” end of life support framework the current is not appropriate. The majority (75%) want the law to evolve to open access to ” active assistance in dying “. Regarding the terms of this aid, 72% were in favor of assisted suicide and 66% in favor of euthanasia.

A law that does not correspond to the reality of patients

Currently, the law Claeys-Leonetti, adopted in 2016, regulates the end of life of the terminally ill. Bans euthanasia and assisted suicide, but allows a ” deep sedation and continues until death in some specific cases. As explained by our colleagues from huffpostthis law allows patients in great suffering to be put to sleep definitively if their vital prognosis is already committed:

” This law provides for the cessation of treatments in the event of “unreasonable obstinacy”, i.e. of therapeutic obstinacy: if the patient so wishes, treatments can be “suspended” when “they appear useless, disproportionate or when they have no other effect than the sole maintenance artificial life’. […]However, this law is complicated to apply, mainly due to a lack of resources: in France, palliative care, the treatments made to alleviate the pain of a sick person who will not be able to heal, are completely insufficient. Almost two thirds of French people do not have access to it and only 30% of people in need can really benefit from it, according to the French Society of Support and Palliative Care. Twenty-six wards are therefore completely devoid of units dedicated to this treatment. »

Lucie Hennequin for The Huffpost

Methods that cause discussion

Points of view differ on the contours that this access to active assistance in dying would assume. Should assisted suicide also concern minors? Should euthanasia be open only to those who are able to express a free and enlightened will? Will assisted dying be reserved only for dying people? Many questions whose divided answers testify to the harmonization work that remains to be carried out in order to be able to present to the government, on March 19, a document that takes into account all the nuances and opinions on the matter. According to Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, these responses will constitute ” main lighting for the government. Citizens have spoken, it remains to be seen whether they will be heard.

Cover image: Marco Oriolesi