French citizen's convention speaks out in favour of euthanasia
People take part in a flash mob event organized by the "Alliance VITA" association as part of their tour of France in solidarity with elderly people and against euthanasia. The placards read "To care is not to kill". Photo AFP, Kenzo Tribouillard
Western Europe
After several intense debates, the French Citizens' Convention has concluded its consideration of legalising euthanasia and assisted suicide in the country. A large majority is in favour of allowing self-determined death.
On Sunday, the Citizens' Convention gathered for the last time to discuss self-determined death. In total, 184 citizens participated in this discussion panel. That is reported by La Croix. Of them, more than 75 per cent are in favour of legalising assisted suicide. At the same time, the number of participants that strongly oppose legalisation has also grown. At the end of February, this group was 19 per cent of all participants, now 23.2 per cent.
Legal
The actual content of a law legalising self-determined death is another sensitive issue. In total, 39.9 per cent of the participants of the Citizens' Convention are in favour of legalising both assisted suicide (where a person receives help to end his life himself) and euthanasia (where a doctor administers the deadly drugs to the patient). Another 28.2 per cent wants assisted suicide to become the norm in the end-of-life legislation, with euthanasia only for people who cannot end their own lives. In total, 9.8 per cent only want assisted suicide to be legal, and 1 per cent pleads for legalising euthanasia but not assisted suicide.
Also, the participants of the Convention disagree on more specific requirements for being eligible for self-determined death. The applicant's age, medical conditions, and ability to express one's choice are some of the factors discussed.
At the same time, the vote of the Citizens' Convention is not all the way final because of a technical error, which forces the committee to redo the voting in the coming weeks. If the results remain the same, the conclusion of the Convention will be a plea for "assisted suicide, reserved for major incurable patients, whose vital prognosis is committed in the short or medium term, and suffering from refractory physical suffering", La Croix writes.
Sedation
On Sunday, the day of the 8th meeting of the Citizens' Convention, it was also the 15th anniversary of the death of Chantal Sébire, a French teacher who committed suicide. According to La Croix, this case has been a turning point in the discussion on self-determined death.
Sébire was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2002. It severely deformed her face and led to much suffering. In 2008, the teacher ended her life after she pleaded several times for assistance to die. "I went to the end of what I can bear", she had said a month earlier.
In response, France adopted the end-of-life legislation that is still in place today in 2016. This law allows deep and continuous sedation until death for patients who request it and whose life will end soon, according to medical prognoses.
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