What does the association defend?
“We hope that the right to end of life will not be based exclusively, as is currently the case, on medical considerations. Our action and activism are based on two pillars: the self-determination of the person, because we believe that our life belongs to us and so does our death; and solidarity, by meeting with members who ask us, to discuss their situation, answer their questions, walk a part of the way with them when they have difficulties, when they wish to know the terms for the end of life … We also inform them about advance directives. »
What is it about?
“It’s a typical print. Each person can indicate what they want, or do not want, in terms of treatment, in terms of persistence, regarding the end of life, if they ever find themselves in a situation in which they are no longer able to express themselves. In this document, she must also mention a trusted person…
Once these advance directives have been signed, in principle, in intensive care, palliative care and emergency departments, doctors must take them into account. It turns out that today, advance directives are not enforceable. That is to say, even if the law says that doctors must comply with the content of advance directives, it is still them, currently, who have the last word. What we denounce. We ask that advance directives be a legally enforceable and enforceable document, as is the case in Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. »
Who are your members? What is their profile?
“Of the 3,534 members of Ultime Liberté at the national level, there are a little more than 50 at the Finistère branch. These are people who are thinking about the end of their lives, so they are rather old, even if there are also a few young people. Sociologically, these are mainly middle and upper middle class profiles; that is to say people who can afford the luxury of thinking about their end of life, who are not too confronted with everyday problems. »
Where is the examination of the bill on the end of life, suspended after the dissolution of the National Assembly?
“Normally, it should resume the weeks of January 27 and February 3. The project as it was presented does not satisfy us because it still remains within the medical framework; you must have a serious pathology to be able to request deep and continuous sedation.
Mental illnesses were excluded and what also caught our attention was that advance directives had disappeared from the text… We are therefore very attentive to what will happen, but we are moderately optimistic, because we know in advance that it will not meet our demands. »
Contact
Deep. [email protected]; winter. 07 88 83 90 17.
