End-of-life law readied by France’s parliament
Print Edition
FRENCH parliament will debate from January a draft law that would move a step closer to euthanasia by allowing a right to “deep and ongoing sedation” until death for terminally ill patients who request it, President Francois Hollande said.
Apart from Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, few countries in the world explicitly permit euthanasia or assisted suicide, sometimes called mercy killings.
Speaking after a report on the matter was made public yesterday, Hollande said current legislation was too focused on the doctor’s analysis and did not consider the patient’s wishes.
“These proposals are centered on the patients whose suffering should be avoided. It respects their choice and wishes,” said Hollande, who has publicly referred on several occasions to the suffering his own aged mother experienced before her death.
Hollande promised before his 2012 election to introduce new right-to-die legislation in France, which left grey areas in a 2005 law on patient rights and care for the terminally ill.
The so-called Leonetti law limits therapeutic obstinacy, or treatment that only prolong the life of a terminally ill patient without providing a cure.
Hollande said the new proposals would mean that if a patient’s life was immediately in danger and the treatment was not working or causing more suffering then they could be sedated with life-support equipment switched off.
If a patient was unable to decide alone, then the doctor after a consultative process, would have an obligation to end treatment because it would only be keeping the patient artificially alive, Hollande said.
Opinion polls show broad support for legalized euthanasia in late terminal cases.
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