Euthanasia and assisted suicide must not be considered as care

(14 March 2023) (sv) Representatives of 13 professional nursing associations in France have taken it upon themselves, with a view to possible changes in the law, to reflect on the consequences of legalising assisted suicide and euthanasia (see Box 1) on daily nursing practice and to inform legislators and the population about the results. – We print here the abridged version of their statement, which received wide attention in France. It deserved this attention in many Western countries where the ban on killing has already been challenged or abolished.

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“13 signatory organisations representing 800,000 caregivers are publishing an ethical and practical statement on Thursday 16 February 2023 on the consequences of the possible legalisation of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. They affirm that these practices, which directly involve caregivers, can in no way fall within the scope of care and warn legislators of the dangers such a development would pose to vulnerable persons.

Citizens’ Convention on the End of Life In its opinion of 13 September 2022, the French National Ethics Council (Comité consultatif national d'éthique, CCNE) considered legalising a form of medically assisted death. Since 9 December 2022, the Civic Convention, a body of 185 members chosen by lot from 80 different organisations, has been meeting on end-of-life issues in France. By the end of March 2023, the Convention must present a report on end-of-life issues to Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron. On 19 February 2023, the Citizens’ Convention took a frightening turn and voted 75% in favour of opening access to “active euthanasia” (euthanasia or assisted suicide). Alliance VITA, an association for human dignity founded in 1993, warns against a populist drift when life is no longer claimed to be worth living. (see https://www.alliancevita.org/2023/02/effroi-vote-convention-citoyenne)

While the Citizens' Convention on End of Life will present its conclusions in the coming weeks, 13 professional associations directly involved in the daily care of people at the end of life, representing nearly 1 million caregivers, declare that:

• Vulnerable persons for whom the autonomy imperative is inappropriate are directly threatened by the message that such legislation sends to them: children, dependent persons, persons with psychiatric or cognitive disorders, persons who are in a very precarious social situation.
• The ethical and legal framework for nursing practice is incompatible with the performance of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.
• Consequently, these acts cannot be considered care in any way unless one fundamentally undermines their definition.

These organisations, which advocate unconditionally and regardless of context for end-of-life companionship and care, call on legislators and government to:

• Make access to palliative care effective for all who need it.
• Keep the world of care out of any plans to legalise a form of administered death.
• To focus on renewing the badly damaged health system.

Our fellow citizens face unprecedented shortcomings in health care every day: Layoffs of caregivers, regions with lack of medical care, shortages of medicines, deficiencies in the care and accompaniment of patients or the closure of hospital departments. The undersigned organisations call on everyone to stop destabilising a health care world that is in a very fragile situation.”

Press contact: SFAP, saintvaulry@droitdevant.fr ,
tel. +33.6.09.48.49.60

Source: https://sfap.org/actualite/l-euthanasie-et-le-suicide-assiste-ne-peuvent-pas-etre-consideres-comme-des-soins
(Translation “Swiss Standpoint”)

The detailed statement of 16 February 2022 can be found here in French: https://sfap.org/system/files/avis_ethique_commun_-_160223.pdf