The National Ethics Advisory Committee (CCNE) has just issued its opinion on the end of life. He considers active assistance in dying possible, under certain strict conditions, such as for “adults suffering from serious and incurable illnesses, causing refractory physical or psychological suffering, whose vital prognosis is committed in the medium term”. On the same day, Tuesday September 13, director Jean-Luc Godard, 91, has been assisted suicide in Switzerland.
Already two years ago, Gogard expressed his wish not to wait too long to leave, “he was not sick, he was simply exhausted” explained a relative of the family with Liberation. And to be able to die whenever he wanted, the director benefited from assisted suicide in Switzerland. Euthanasia (operated by a doctor on a patient) is not authorized, but it is possible to legally obtain a lethal substance to administer oneself.
The association Exit, which advocates the right to die with dignity, explains the steps. You must join an association that offers this service, there are four that allow foreign residents to access it, but in the case of Exit, you must be a permanent resident of the territory Swiss. Certain conditions must be met.
Certificates to provide
You have to be of legal age, have their capacity for discernment. And you have to either be suffering from an incurable disease, or experience intolerable suffering, or have disabling age-related pathologies. Medical certificates must accompany the declaration of the applicant, and date from less than one year. Doctors examine the request and respond favorably if the criteria are met.
D-day, the person must be able to make the gesture themselves: to ingest the substance, or have the ability to open the tap of their infusion. She will have to confirm her desire to die again, to dispose of her discernment. The patient must not be alone, there must be at least one witness. Once the substance has taken effect and the person is dead, the police will come to see. A guide from the association is responsible for helping to organize and ensuring that the operation runs smoothly.
