The shadow of euthanasia

"The constitution of juridical frameworks on end of life treatment, the accent of palliative treatment, strengthening the expression of the will of the patient, preserving the prohibition of euthanasia": these are the contents of end of life legislation in Europe as in 2005 underlined by French jurist Yves Marie Doublet, during the joint Congress coordinated by the European Federation of the Association of Catholic Doctors (FEAMC) and the Association Italian Doctors (AMCI) on the theme, "Bioethics and Christian Europe", held at the Catholic University in Rome, November 15-18. Tendencies and shadows. "The Countries of Benelux, which have legalized euthanasia, count 28 million inhabitants, compared to a population of over 400 million", the expert said, comparing present regulations in France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden and Germany. In this last Country, Doublet said, "a ruling of 2010 issued by the Federal Court of Justice accepts the interruption of treatment, with explicit mention of the term euthanasia", while last August "there have been signs of initiatives that involve, drawing inspiration from the Swiss model, the decriminalization of the murder of a relative".A common background. Doublet highlighted that French dispositions stemming from "private initiatives" which do not envisage pre-emptive actions, nor persistence aimed at the artificial extension of life, aren’t distant from the ongoing procedures in Spain". "While in the United Kingdom there is no obligation to administer useless treatments", and although in Sweden the patient is recognised "the right to interrupt medical treatment" just like doctors are permitted to "intentionally cause someone’s death", there remains, according to the expert, an "international juridical background", consisting in the indications of the Council of Europe, that highlights that "medical decisions taken in harmony with early decisions taken with the patient" along with a regulation that "acknowledges the patient’s will".A bioethics legislation. Nadiya Helner, from Ukraine, spoke of genetic medical counselling. "The key-rule of contemporary bioemedical ethics is the recognition of personal autonomy and man’s right to solve the problem of the right to medical assistance, in the respect of the principle of ‘no harm to the patient’, the speaker said, underlining the crucial role played by "the presence of bioethical Committees in legislative decisions". A glance towards the future, with previsions on ethical questions linked to end-of-life questions that Europe will have to face in the coming decades was addressed by French expert Christian Brégeon: "Non self-sufficient population will double by 2040 – he said – along with health expenses", in the meantime "the adoption of palliative treatment will become a priority, along with the use of methods aimed at controlling pain and to provide psychological and spiritual assistance prior to terminal treatment". Increasingly ageing Europe. Before a strong "fiscal burden" that will "weigh upon fifty-year-olds", family relations, according to Brégeon, will be "seriously affected" and they must therefore be "protected" also since the context will be marked by "less solidarity compared to the past". As compared to end-of-life, the "demographic revolution" will ensure that "an old person will not be refused technological support, ranging from "prostethesis to chemotherapy", thus contributing to "ageing population with light stable impairment, despite no perspective of cure". At the same time an increase in suicides among the senior citizens is expected, considering that in France the phenomenon involves 17 every 100 thousand people, but figure increase by eight times more among over-90 year old men.