End of life: Ethics Committee paves the way for active assistance in dying

The right to palliative care, the role of the person of trust, the authority of advance directives... the law of February 2, 2016, called the Claeys-Leonetti law also provided for the possibility of deep and continuous sedation until death for people suffering from a serious and incurable condition, whose life is committed short term and suffering refractory to treatment.

In addition, in recent years several States have adopted legislation allowing both assisted suicide and euthanasia (Spain, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand but also some Australian States).

It is in this context that the National Advisory Committee on Ethics (NAC) released an opinion on End of Life on September 13, 2022. The panel, which took the matter up on its own initiative in June 2021, considers that "there is a way forward for the ethical application of active assistance in dying, under certain strict conditions with which it appears unacceptable to deal" (Read more about the article).