http://www.euronews.com/ Should those suffering from incurable diseases have the right to assisted suicide? At the moment this issue varies from country to country, and some have yet to decide. Should you have the right to die with dignity?

Euronews’ Alex Taylor speaks to Doctor Bernard Devalois, Head of the Palliative Care Unit at the Hospital of Pontoise in France, putting forward your questions on I-talk.

The first question comes from Alexandre from France: “As a Frenchman, I’m asking the question because there are a lot of discussions in France on whether we should allow assisted suicide, and the similarity between suicide and assisted suicide, and no law has been passed, either in France or Europe to harmonise the rules. To allow people to die with dignity.

“So as more and more people talk about this, when will a European law be passed that will help people to die with dignity?”

*Alex Taylor:* “A fundamental question. There’s no agreement between different countries. What is the European position? Is there one?”

*Dr Bernard Devalois:* “There is no European position as it’s a complicated issue. Dying with dignity is not at all the same as assisted suicide or lethal injection. These are different things. Palliative care is to ensure that people die with dignity. In France for example there is a law on that…”

*Alex Taylor:* “But why can’t we have the same law in all of the countries?”

*Dr Bernard Devalois:* “So I think there is already a problem to use the correct terms. Knowing that assisted suicide is one thing, lethal injections practised by doctors is another and to die in dignity, palliative care, this is a third. However I do think it is important to have a European legislation.”

*Alex Taylor:* “Do you see it coming?”

*Dr Bernard Devalois:* “I don’t know. Of around 500 million people, about 30 million are for the legalisation of the lethal injection and around 470 million are more or less under laws that allow the cessation of treatment, stopping life support, but not the lethal injection.”

*Alex Taylor:* “A second question for the doctor, comes from Germany.”

“Hello I’m Nicholas , from Germany, I’m 22 years old and I’d like to know the difference between suicide and euthanasia.”

*Alex Taylor:* “A basic definition, euthanasia is when it’s someone else, but assisted suicide is when you cannot commit suicide?”

*Dr Bernard Devalois:* “Yes, so basically already, suicide is a fundamental freedom that each of us has. This is not a right. If we speak of a right to suicide that means you can perform suicide on someone else. This is generally called euthanasia, but in a country such as Belgium, the term “euthanasia” refers to what is allowed by law. Lethal injections which are not performed as part of the law are not called “euthanasia.” But in France the term “euthanasia” refers to all lethal injections. So there really is already a problem to agree on the words.”

*Alex Taylor:* Are there no guidelines? Because the European Union gives guidelines on this kind of thing, especially the Commission. So isn’t it trying to create some uniformity on this issue?

*Dr Bernard Devalois:* “First the semantics need to be clarified, so that everyone agrees on the words, and they’re recognised by everybody, that’s the key point, to see people have the right to die with dignity at the end of their life. But to say that is not to say ‘they must die at the hands of a doctor by a lethal injection’ as is authorised in some countries such as Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.”

*Alex Taylor:* “We received a question via webcam from Emmanuelle.”

“Hello, my name is Emmanuelle and I live near Paris. I’ve seen a lot of debates on ending life – euthanasia – and I have heard many arguments especially from supporters of RDD, that the Leonetti law allows patients – or their families when they are unable to ask – to stop artificial nutrition. But these people then suffer greatly from hunger and thirst. Is this really the case, and how can we make sure they do not suffer from this? Thank you.”

*Alex Taylor:* “RDD is the right to die with dignity. What are the authorised methods?”

*Dr Bernard Devalois:* “I think in any case, what is really important is to understand that people do not die of hunger and thirst because they are not hungry and they do not feel thirst. When we do not implement medically assisted nutrition, artificial nutrition, people do not go hungry…”

*Alex Taylor:* “Are there not? When someone asks for help to die, aren’t there more humane methods?”

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