The Minister of Health, who spoke for the first time on the subject, does not hide his reservations about “active assistance in dying”.
By NJ with AFP
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” Ihe debate on active assistance in dying is still open. In an interview given to World, François Braun, Minister of Health, showed reservations about a law on “active assistance in dying”, as recommended by the Convention on the end of life. According to him, the priority should go “to strengthening what already exists”.
For his first speech on the subject, the Minister considered that a “text of legislation going in this direction would profoundly change our society and our relationship to death”. He judges that if society must move forward in the direction of active assistance in dying, “it could only be in very specific cases which should be rigorously supervised”.
The Citizens’ Convention says “yes”
At present, the legislation, set by the Claeys-Leonetti law of 2016, allows caregivers to irreversibly sedate patients near death, whose suffering is intolerable. But it does not go so far as to authorize assisted suicide – the patient administers the lethal product himself – or euthanasia – a caregiver injects it. READ ALSOCitizens’ convention on the end of life: “the great confusion”
Two solutions on which the Convention on the end of life, composed of 184 citizens, was favorable to three quarters, after three months of work, while posing significant restrictions. Emmanuel Macron, for his part, announced a bill on the end of life “by the end of the summer”.
Do not impose it on doctors
According to the Minister of Health, even by modifying the law of 2016, “we will never respond to all situations”. It is “each time the end of a life and each situation is different”. He prefers the choice of strengthening what already exists, which must be the priority, “whatever option we put on the table”.
To do this, he suggests “greater appropriation of advance directives”, “better trained health professionals” or “better use of deep and continuous sedation until death”. “These are tools that we will strengthen by supporting palliative care,” he promises. He says he is convinced that “if we succeed, there will be a lot less requests for assistance in dying”.
Finally, if the legislation were to evolve towards active assistance in dying, François Braun “does not want it to be able to impose itself as an obligation on doctors” and “does not believe that it must necessarily be done in a medical environment” .