Assisted dying: for the HAS, taking into account an individual vital prognosis would be “a mistake”

The time remaining to live for an incurable patient is impossible to assess. Since the "prediction" of the "individual temporal prognosis" cannot be determined "with sufficient scientific certainty" , any doctor receiving a request for assistance in dying (euthanasia or assisted suicide) from a patient must be able to assess the "subjectivity" of the suffering person, "the only one legitimate to say what is unbearable for them" . This is the position of the High Authority for Health (HAS) made public on Tuesday, May 6. An opinion recorded in a three-page note accompanied by a hundred-page argument.

The expert opinion was eagerly awaited by the deputies called to begin, in public session on May 12, the examination of the bill that decriminalizes assisted dying. The HAS's opinion, while it will inform the upcoming debate, will not be enough to bring together supporters and opponents of this new "right." Each side is already refining its arguments to interpret them in a way that reinforces its respective positions.

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