Bishops welcome steps to improve care of the dying

French church bioethicists have praised a new law on end-of-life care because it stresses the development of palliative treatment for the dying, writes Tom Heneghan.

The Bishops’ Conference working group on end-of-life issues said “a massive demand has finally been heard – access to and training in palliative care will be developed”. The law includes a three-year programme to promote palliative care, which critics say has been insufficiently publicised, and annual reviews of progress in implementing the new directives.

Also included is a right to deep sedation of patients until death, an approach that some critics have called a disguised path to legal euthanasia. The working group, led by Rennes Archbishop Pierre d’Ornellas, said such cases would be rare and subject to strict medical guidelines. Making palliative care more available would reduce instances of “bad death”, a term for trying cases that support the call to legalise euthanasia.

Meanwhile, seven bishops denounced the government for allowing the level of abortion to proceed apace without much public debate. They spoke up after a legal change was promulgated to abolish the seven-day reflection period required before a termination of pregnancy.

“Can one still speak about abortion these days?” asked the seven bishops from southern France and Martinique. “The subject comes up in public debate so rarely that one cannot let the occasion to speak about it pass.”

The bishops said abolishing the reflection period “puts yet more pressure on women”.