France To Discuss , Legalizing Assisted Suicide.
AP reports that on Sept.
13, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that there will be a national debate about end-of-life options.
Those options include the potential legalization of assisted suicide.
Assisted suicide is when a lethal dose of drugs is self-administered by a patient.
The practice is legal in Switzerland.
Euthanasia, which is when a lethal dose of drugs is given by a medical professional, .
Is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain.
In France, patients can currently request “deep, continuous sedation altering consciousness until death” under severe circumstances.
Doctors are also allowed to discontinue life-sustaining treatments such as artificial hydration and nutrition, but this can leave patients suffering.
Doctors are also allowed to discontinue life-sustaining treatments such as artificial hydration and nutrition, but this can leave patients suffering.
Macron previously suggested that he personally favors legalizing physician-assisted suicide.
The French government and a panel of citizens will debate the issue in the coming months with the goal of implementing changes next year.
The French government and a panel of citizens will debate the issue in the coming months with the goal of implementing changes next year.
News of the debate comes after it was revealed that French director Jean-Luc Godard died by assisted suicide on Sept.
13 at the age of 91
