Published on
Updated
Reading 3 mins.
In the columns of the magazine Obs this week, 109 personalities from the political or artistic world signed the manifesto of the Association for the right to die with dignity (ADMD), concerning the end of life. Doctissimo chose to interview the president of this association, Jonathan Denis, to better understand the ins and outs of this delicate subject.
Doctissimo: The Claeys-Leonetti law of February 2, 2016 created new rights for people at the end of life and notably reinforced their right of access to palliative care. In your opinion, how is this insufficient?
Jonathan Dennis : The Claeys-Leonetti law effectively concerns people at the end of life, who face a serious state of health without hope of recovery and whose vital prognosis is engaged in the short term – the short term being defined as a death within hours or the days that follow -, may have recourse to deep and continuous sedation.
This can be implemented at the request of the patient, to avoid any unreasonable obstinacy and to avoid any suffering. However, this law ignores other patients, whose vital prognosis is not short-term, in the sense that we understand it in France: I am thinking of cancer patients at an advanced stage or of patients affected by neurodegenerative pathologies. This is why the ADMD published this manifesto to obtain a law for these patients. Manifesto which I have also signed.
What are your demands regarding the end of life in France?
Jonathan Dennis : Today, we are faced with three scenarios: there are people who go abroad, to Belgium or Switzerland, to benefit from active assistance in dying; those who will benefit from this type of procedure in France, which represents a great risk for the caregivers who practice it, and finally those who, unfortunately, knowing neither the practitioner’s doctor nor being able to go abroad, will not have no solution.
ADMD has been advocating for the establishment of a law for forty years, which will allow anyone capable of expressing their suffering, suffering from an incurable disease and unbearable suffering, to decide on their death. We have a bill to this effect, available on our website, which summarizes the framework that must exist around these practices, which in reality only concern a minority of people.
What do caregivers think about it?
Jonathan Dennis : A caregiver is above all a companion, because sometimes he will not be able to treat but only accompany the patient. But there are two types of school among caregivers. Those who think that this indeed represents a right for the patient, who has the freedom to choose his death and those who do not want to hear about it. These will not be obliged to practice active assistance in dying. And I would also like to remind you that this active assistance in dying is not opposed to palliative care. One works with the other, because even if palliative care could take care of all the patients, there are certain pains which are not possible to relieve.
What do you think are the obstacles preventing the adoption of such a law in France?
Jonathan Dennis : I think that the vast majority of French people want this law, but there is still a very strong religious weight. We see this, for example, when the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron summons representatives of religions to discuss these questions. Among caregivers too, this religious weight is still very present. But these questions must be asked, with respect for everyone. The debate is on the table now. We are also impatiently awaiting the forthcoming conclusions of the Citizens’ Convention on the end of life, which are to be unveiled on April 2.
Irène Frain, writer and member of the honorary committee of the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity (ADMD), signatory of the manifesto
“I signed this manifesto because this law represents freedom for those who no longer have hope, to offer them the possibility of leaving, accompanied by their loved ones. Of course, well-framed conditions are needed, a period of reflection… With these clearly defined conditions, this would allow those who wish to leave this world serenely. It’s an act of conscience and freedom, for me. A possibility to choose, in any case, with respect for everyone“.