End of life: what other European countries have decided
Emmanuel Macron announced on Sunday March 10 a bill for “assisted dying”, which would bring France closer to several of its European neighbors where euthanasia and/or assisted suicide are authorized.
In Europe, seven countries authorize euthanasia or assisted suicide.
Creative Commons
By: RFI with AFP
Advertisement
Read more
It was one of his election promises.
Two years after announcing his intention to reform the end of life, and eleven months after the end of the Citizens' Convention devoted to this particularly sensitive societal issue,
Emmanuel Macron unveiled
his “
French model of the end of life
” on Sunday.
It is neither euthanasia nor assisted suicide, affirmed the French president in a joint interview with the daily newspapers
Libération
and
La Croix
, but “
assisted death
” subject to “
strict conditions
”.
In France, the end of life of incurable patients is regulated by the Claeys-Leonetti law of 2016, after a first version in 2005. This law provides for the cessation of treatments in the event of “
unreasonable obstinacy
”.
If the patient wishes, treatments can be “
suspended
” when they “
appear useless, disproportionate or when they have no other effect than the sole artificial maintenance of life
”.
If the patient cannot express his wishes, the decision must be taken by the doctors in a “
collegial
” manner.
Also read: Assisted dying, euthanasia, assisted suicide… what are we talking about?
The bill, the outlines of which the Head of State outlined in his interview, must be presented in April to the Council of Ministers and on May 27 to the National Assembly.
Faced with the expected resistance, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal called on parliamentarians this Monday for "
a peaceful, informed debate, respectful of everyone's positions
", stressing that this evolution of the law is "
long awaited
" and constitutes "
progress
".
If the path is narrow, this reform “
can pass
”, even in the Senate, anchored to the right, predicted the leader of the centrist senators, Hervé Marseille.
Because “
it corresponds to what many left-wing groups wanted and the other groups are divided
”.
But its adoption would probably not take place before 2025.
France would then come closer to the seven European countries where euthanasia and/or assisted suicide are authorized.
Overview of the legislation in force in Europe.
■ Legal or decriminalized euthanasia
The Netherlands and Belgium were the first two European countries to authorize euthanasia – death caused by a caregiver at the request of a patient.
In the
Netherlands
, euthanasia has been strictly regulated since April 1, 2002. Dutch law provides that the doctor and an independent expert must determine that the patient suffers intolerably and without hope of improvement.
It must also be established that the request for euthanasia is carefully considered, voluntary, and that there is no other “
realistic option
”.
After years of debate, end-of-life assistance was extended in April 2023 to children under the age of twelve.
In
Belgium
, the request must be "
voluntary, thoughtful, repeated
", "
without external pressure
", according to a text promulgated on May 28, 2002. In 2014, Belgium became the first country in the world to authorize euthanasia for minors. without age limit.
In 2009 , Luxembourg
decriminalized
euthanasia and assisted suicide, i.e. when the patient himself takes a prescribed product to cause death.
“
The fact by a doctor of responding to a request for euthanasia or assisted suicide is not criminally sanctioned and cannot give rise to a civil action for damages
”, according to the Luxembourg law promulgated on March 17, 2009. .
Spain adopted a law in March 2021 that allows euthanasia and medically assisted suicide
.
Spanish law provides that any person with “
a serious and incurable illness
” or “chronic” pain
placing them in a situation of incapacity
” can request help from the medical profession to die and thus avoid “
intolerable suffering
”.
Strict conditions govern the process, which must notably receive the green light from an evaluation commission.
Portugal
recently decriminalized euthanasia after a laborious process: a law governing “medically assisted death” was promulgated in May 2023, despite the opposition of conservative President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
.
This law provides in particular that euthanasia is authorized in cases where “
medically assisted suicide is impossible due to the physical incapacity of the patient
”.
■ Assisted suicide
Switzerland – not a member of
the
EU – prohibits direct active euthanasia, but allows assisted suicide.
The practice of assisted suicide is regulated by codes of medical ethics and is supported by organizations such as the Exit association.
The voluntary attendants of these associations provide the patient with the lethal substance – obtained through a medical prescription – which he will ingest himself, without external intervention, to end his life.
A doctor must declare death.
The person must be an adult, capable of discernment, suffering from an incurable illness, intolerable suffering, or disabling polypathologies linked to age.
However, a person can be prosecuted if they assist in the suicide of a third party when they are “
driven by a selfish motive
” such as the prospect of an inheritance.
Austria
legalized, by a vote of Parliament in December 2021, assisted suicide for people suffering from a serious or incurable illness
.
This law came into force on January 1, 2022.
In
Italy
, assisted suicide is prohibited, but the Constitutional Court allowed an exception in September 2019 for fully conscious patients “
kept alive by treatments (...) and suffering from an irreversible pathology, source of suffering physical and psychological that they consider intolerable
.
■ Euthanasia prohibited and criminalized
Within the European Union, nine countries prohibit euthanasia: Ireland, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Cyprus and Malta.
This is also the case for the United Kingdom and Norway – outside the EU.
In the UK, euthanasia is considered manslaughter or murder, depending on the circumstances.
She can be punishable by life imprisonment,
indicates the site Tout l'Europe
.
Assisted suicide is also illegal, the maximum penalty is fourteen years in prison.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your inbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Share :
Continue reading on the same themes:
European Union
Health and medicine