Emmanuel Macron, who announced on Tuesday, September 13, the launch of a citizens’ convention on the end of life, specified, during a meeting with journalists from the Presidential Press Association, Monday evening, that he was watching “the Belgian model but not suddenly as a model that would be copied” – a nuance, whereas he had said, during the presidential campaign, that he was in favor of an evolution of France in this direction. The Head of State added that he was not “comfortable with the Swiss model, which is really assisted suicide”. Assisted suicide is criminally punishable in Switzerland only when motivated by a motive. ” self-centered “, according to the penal code. It is generally provided by associations which define the eligibility conditions for applicants.
In recent years, several European neighbors of France have modified their legislation, after long discussions, and the question of an evolution of rights constantly arises, here or there. The National Consultative Ethics Committee also recalled this from the introduction of its opinion, made public on Tuesday. Overview of “advances” and debates.
Belgium and the Netherlands: old assisted dying, and new debates
Belgium, which legalized euthanasia under conditions in 2002, is an example that successive French governments have said they want to emulate. The law provides that the patient must be in “a hopeless medical situation” and report on“a suffering, psychic or physical, constant or unbearable”. People who are of legal age and aware must make a request “voluntary, thoughtful and repeated”.
The law therefore does not limit the use of terminally ill patients. The doctor must have several interviews with his patient and collect the opinion of two colleagues, including at least one psychiatrist, and, if necessary, relatives designated by the patient. The monitoring and evaluation of the practice have been entrusted to a multidisciplinary commission.
The law was supplemented, in 2014, by provisions concerning seriously ill children, in the terminal phase, facing physical suffering. “unbearable”. The child must submit a request and both parents must agree. Unlike the neighboring Netherlands, the first European state to have legislated on the end of life, Belgian legislators have not set an age limit (12 years minimum, according to Dutch law), considering that the capacity for discernment of a child did not depend on his age. It must, however, be assessed by a child psychiatrist or psychologist.
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