Protestants and the government take note of their disagreements

2023-04-05 11:42:41

“Opening up to assisted suicide would be a profound civilizational break. Whereas we had hitherto been in a policy of accompaniment, the possibility of the gift of death would open up. This justifies our working on a Protestant contribution. » Christian Krieger’s observation immediately set the tone of the exchanges, at the same time as he praised the quality of the exchanges between religions and the government. The president of the Protestant Federation of France (FPF) submitted, on Tuesday April 4, a report containing the “arrests” Protestants on the end of life to Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, Minister Delegate in charge of Territorial Organization and the Health Professions.

On this occasion, several FPF officials discussed with the minister in charge of this file the relevance of opening up new rights, the day after Emmanuel Macron’s announcement of a bill“by the end of summer”. The debates were held within the Fondation des diaconesses de Reuilly, in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, an emblematic place housing the headquarters of this Protestant religious community with a medico-social vocation whose motto is : “Accompanying life! »

Consensus on deep sedation

If Protestants are divided on a possible decriminalization or legalization of active assistance in dying, all the Churches alert the government to the urgency of democratizing the Claeys-Leonetti law throughout the country. « This report sounds like an indictment in favor of palliative care”summarized Jean-Gustave Hentz, president of the Ethics and Society Commission of the FPF and author of the text.

To highlight the complexity of the issue and defend a generalization of palliative care, while being careful not to pronounce “for or against”, this former anesthetist took as an example a situation encountered during his career, that of a 55-year-old patient suffering from Charcot’s disease who requested deep and continuous sedation to put an end to her suffering. While insisting on respecting the choice of individuals likely to resort to assisted dying. “In my parish in Strasbourg, we celebrated services and thanksgiving for people who left to end their lives in Switzerland”he testified.

Jean-Gustave Hentz also alerted the minister to the opposition of certain caregivers to a new law. “It necessitatesssite the abandonment of the principle prohibiting killing in the Hippocratic oathhe pointed out. The commission also draws attention to the difficulty of medicine in predicting the end of life: it is difficult to predict the evolution of a clinical situation. A medium term can turn into a short term or sometimes drag on into the long term with its share of intense joys and pains. »

“The Claeys-Leonetti law does not respond to all situations”

For her part, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, herself of Catholic faith, expressed her desire to develop the Claeys-Leonetti law throughout the territory. “There is an issue of culture palliative et d’anticipation palliativesaid the minister. We must train all health professionals and inform all citizens. How we move our health system from all-curative to palliative anticipation, that is the major issue. »

The first stage of this project could be completed quickly. “We are going to revise the 2008 circular which governs palliative careshe said. We are in 2023 and this has still not been done: pediatric palliative care does not even appear in this circular. I set myself the requirement to revise it every five years. »

On the question of the future bill, however, the minister clearly confirmed her disagreement with the Protestant leaders. “Your opinion is both yes and no, you say it’s not the right timeshe said. The question is: does the Claeys-Leonetti law respond to all short-term situations? (Members of the Citizens’ Convention, editor’s note) decided by saying no. The President of the Republic therefore invites us toour country towards active assistance in dying. »

Despite the differences of opinion, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo renewed her invitation to dialogue, highlighting “the importance of the debate”. “We always learnshe said in conclusion. It does not matter if we discuss with people whose opinion we do not share, there is always a word, a sentence, an idea which should allow us to build a bill to open up new rights. and advance reflection with the various actors on this “that we can bring human and humanity in the accompaniment of the end of life”.