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France proposes assisted dying bill to grant doctors new powers France proposes assisted dying bill to grant doctors new powers
(about 3 hours later)
French politicians have unveiled proposals for a bill that would allow doctors to put terminally ill patients into a deep sleep until they die, reviving the deeply divisive end-of-life debate. French politicians have unveiled proposals for a bill that would allow doctors to put terminally ill patients into a deep sleep until they die, reviving the divisive end-of-life debate.
The bill would also make “living wills” – drafted by people who do not want to be kept alive artificially when they are too ill to decide – legally binding on doctors rather than merely consultative as they are now.The bill would also make “living wills” – drafted by people who do not want to be kept alive artificially when they are too ill to decide – legally binding on doctors rather than merely consultative as they are now.
Euthanasia is illegal in France, but Francois Hollande pledged in his 2012 presidential campaign to look into an issue that divides a country where heart-wrenching end-of-life stories continue to make headlines. Euthanasia is illegal in France, but François Hollande pledged in his 2012 presidential campaign to look into an issue that divides a country where heart-wrenching end-of-life stories continue to make headlines.
A 2005 French law already legalises passive euthanasia, where a person causes death by withholding or withdrawing treatment that is necessary to maintain life, but the new proposals go a step further, allowing doctors to couple this with “deep and continuous sedation” for terminally ill patients who are conscious and whose treatment is not working, or for those who decide to stop taking medication. This type of sedation can also be used on patients who are not able to make decisions, in certain circumstances. A 2005 French law legalises passive euthanasia, where a person causes death by withholding or withdrawing treatment that is necessary to maintain life, but the new proposals allow doctors to couple this with “deep and continuous sedation” for terminally ill patients who are conscious and whose treatment is not working, or for those who decide to stop taking medication. This type of sedation can also be used on patients who are not able to make decisions, in certain circumstances.
Hollande said on Friday that a parliamentary debate on the issue would be held in January.Hollande said on Friday that a parliamentary debate on the issue would be held in January.
Last year, several particularly poignant cases shook France. One, in November 2013, saw a couple in their 80s kill themselves in Paris, leaving a note explaining their decision. They took their lives in the Le Lutetia hotel, having asphyxiated themselves after putting plastic bags on their heads. Last year, several poignant cases shook France. In November 2013, a couple in their 80s killed themselves in Paris, leaving a note explaining their decision. They took their lives in the Le Lutetia hotel.
They had ordered room service in the morning and were found by staff, lying hand-in-hand, with a typewritten note claiming “the right to die with dignity”.They had ordered room service in the morning and were found by staff, lying hand-in-hand, with a typewritten note claiming “the right to die with dignity”.
And in December last year, Sandrine Rousseau, spokeswoman for the green EELV party, published a letter on her blog describing how she and her father watched for nine hours while her mother slowly died after taking a lot of pills. In December last year, Sandrine Rousseau, spokeswoman for the green EELV party, published a letter on her blog describing how she and her father watched for nine hours while her mother slowly died after taking a lot of pills.
“She did not commit suicide for fun, she did it because she knew that no one would cut short her suffering, at least not enough to die with dignity,” she wrote. “But her agony was long. Nine hours to endure suffering that was not medically supervised.”“She did not commit suicide for fun, she did it because she knew that no one would cut short her suffering, at least not enough to die with dignity,” she wrote. “But her agony was long. Nine hours to endure suffering that was not medically supervised.”