President Francois Hollande and the prime minister, Manuel Valls, both support liberalising the law.

The French parliament opened a long-awaited debate on euthanasia this week. President Francois Hollande and the prime minister, Manuel Valls, both support liberalising the law at least to allow terminal sedation “to allow people to depart peacefully and without suffering”.

A letter arguing against the proposal appeared in Le Figaro this week signed by 23 members of parliament.  

“At a time when our country is debating how to live together, it is unacceptable to open the door to a right to death, which does not come under the law. Far from being the ultimate freedom, the choice of euthanasia assumes the alienation of the individual to his pain. The solution is certainly not to destroy life to eliminate suffering, but rather to seek ways to ease pain and, to the extent reasonably possible, to protect life.”

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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