When politics crosses the red line!
The author, a practicing Catholic, states his opposition to the law on aid in dying, which he views as a red line for ethics and society.
As a practicing Catholic, I straightforwardly refuse the legalization of what is called "aid in dying". Behind these words lies a simple reality, making death a legal solution.
The biblical commandment "Thou shalt not kill" is not a symbolic formula. It is a fundamental benchmark, which protects every life, especially the most fragile.
A serious line not to be crossed
Dignity and compassion are invoked. But since when would causing death be an act of compassion? A dignified society does not eliminate the sufferer, it accompanies them.
Legalizing administered death is crossing a serious line: one where life ceases to be unconditionally protected.
Protecting the most vulnerable
This shift is not theoretical. It primarily concerns the most vulnerable: the elderly, the sick, the dependent.
Behind the displayed freedom, how many will feel like a burden? How many will feel they have to "choose" to disappear so as not to weigh on their loved ones?
The doctor's role disrupted
This development also disrupts medicine. The doctor would no longer be only the one who treats and relieves, but also the one who can administer death. Such a transformation deeply alters trust and the very meaning of care.
An indecent political levity
In this context, the minister's initiative to host a reception around this law is a serious mistake. Whether he then speaks of "clumsiness" or "confusion" changes nothing: one does not stage, directly or indirectly, a text that involves the death of the most fragile.
This approach reveals a worrying levity, as if such a shift could be accompanied by the codes of an ordinary political victory. It is indecent!
No, we do not celebrate death. These subjects demand gravity, restraint, and respect.
Another way is possible
Yet, another way exists. The law of February 2, 2016, known as the Leonetti-Claeys law, already allows responding to the distress of the end of life by guaranteeing better management of suffering and by authorizing, in certain situations, deep and continuous sedation until death. It allows accompaniment without killing.
On June 8, my mother was accompanied thanks to this law. She was surrounded, relieved, respected.
I want to express my deep gratitude to the medical profession and nurses for their humanity and compassion. They showed us what a dignified end of life is, an accompanied life, right to the end.
Max BAUER