The current unstable political situation makes even more important the constant commitment by Alliance VITA, in support of the most vulnerable. That is the reason why the association is defending 5 priority themes in support of life, opposite the candidates and all the parties.
I- Voting for a law for solidarity with the elderly
Whilst the ageing of the population in France is increasing, a law for old age is an urgent social need and a challenge for the dignity of the elderly.
With the considerable increase in life expectancy, the ageing of the population has major consequences. The overall economic equilibria are disrupted (funding of dependence and of the pathologies associated with old age) as well as the social and cultural equilibria (increasing solitude of the very aged, risk of “social death”).
In 25 years, some 5 million French people will be over 85 and the number of dependent elderly people will have almost doubled. A report in 2019 estimated the budgetary needs at 9.2 billion euros per year by 2030. Although announced several times, and ever deferred, a law intended to adapt society to this challenge and to fund the accompaniment of the elderly is more than ever necessary.
The French society for 2050 is being built today. Action is needed now, in order to incorporate the risk of loss of autonomy of the elderly within the very structure of our social policies. It is essential to reinforce the cross-generation links, within the family circle and beyond. It is a matter of justice and social cohesion. The status of carers must be reinforced. Finally, the means allocated to old people’s homes must enable the elderly to live a dignified life up to the end.
II- Guaranteed access to palliative care for all
Nearly half of the patients who need palliative care are deprived of it : access to palliative care must be provided for all.
The 1999 law stated : “Any sick person whose condition so requires has the right of access to palliative care and accompaniment.” With the other laws concerning the end of life and patients’ rights, a specifically French path is being drawn. It rejects both therapeutic obstinacy and euthanasia, and advocates palliative care. The latter has made considerable progress in recent years; the units dedicated to palliative care are unquestionably havens of relief, fraternity and humanity.
However, such care is unevenly distributed across France : some twenty departments are still without any palliative care units. The ten-year plan put forward by the government promises funding well below the national needs, and with no guarantee of continuity. However, requests to “end it all” are often linked to inadequately treated pain or suffering, social isolation, as well as the feeling of being useless or a burden on family or on society. It must be stressed that euthanasia and assisted suicide are incompatible with the palliative culture.
More generally, it is our entire sanitary system which is in crisis : access to doctors, emergency services or psychiatric treatment, the quality of life in EHPADs etc. For true fraternity, it is essential to take measures to guarantee for all French people, high quality care, throughout life, and palliative care when the time comes.
III- Defence of the universal prevention of suicide
All suicides are a drama and a failure for society: nobody should be excluded from prevention policies.
France totals some 9,000 suicide deaths each year – one of the highest rates in Europe (13.4 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2017, which is above the average for European nations). Attempted suicides result in some 200,000 visits to A&E per year and 100,000 hospitalisations. Every suicide is more than an “individual” drama : plunging the person’s entourage brutally and violently into mourning, it concerns society as a whole. Suicide prevention remains a major challenge for public health. It should suffer no exceptions.
Legalising assisted suicide and euthanasia as intended in the end of life bill would seriously undermine the prevention policies. It is irresponsible to present suicide as desirable and to suggest that the State should organise it. The experts have warned about the contagion induced by “mimic suicides”, known as the “Werther effect”. More generally, the exclusion of certain categories of patients from suicide prevention, is an unfair discrimination. How can one suggest that certain patients could have no right to such prevention ?
No disease should provide eligibility to assisted suicide. It is the very people who are made vulnerable by physical and mental disease, old age or handicap who on the contrary have the greatest need for protection against the risk of attempting a desperate act.
IV- Introduction of a policy of welcoming all life
Demography is a key issue for the future of our society. Adaptation of the social model is an essential condition to favour a welcoming ecosystem for all life.
This begins with a family policy which excludes no families : the re-establishment of a universal family allowance is the first condition for its effectiveness. One must also consider the ever delaying of first pregnancies, and its link to infertility. Infertility is also affected by life-styles and by the exposure to endocrine disruptors : the preservation and if possible restoration of natural fertility requires advanced medical research and improved availability of information for the general public.
Only specific economic and social support can moreover enable women to consider maternity, with attention to reconciliation between long studies or the entry into professional life and parenthood. The vulnerability of couples also calls for specific action. Whereas the rate of abortion is at a record level, we are still waiting for a general policy on the prevention of abortions.
Thanks to advanced detection techniques, the rate of pre-natal exclusion of those suffering from handicap is one of the highest in the world. Furthermore, the UN Committee for Children’s Rights (2016) has called upon France to combat the stigmatisation and prejudices which afflict handicapped children. Support for the acceptance of the handicapped involves a readjustment : the handicap detection policies must be supplemented with better support for parents at the moment of the announcement.
V- Protection of the integrity of the human body
Surrogate motherhood, research on the human embryo and its genetic modification contravene the rights of the person and the principle of respect for the human body.
It is up to France, the nation of human rights, to protect the integrity of the human body.
Our diplomacy must promote the universal abolition of surrogate motherhood, in the name of non-commercialisation of the body of women and the dignity of the child. All surrogate motherhood practices include original maltreatment of the child, as the subject of a commercial contract. Surrogate motherhood is prohibited in France, it must be penalised and not supported. Any State which recognises this form of human trafficking by bowing to the claims of its sponsors, totally contradicts the international efforts to combat the practice.
The same logic prohibits treating the human embryo as an object for experimentation. The creation of chimera embryos mixing human cells and animal embryos is in particular incompatible with the dignity associated with humanity. Clear limits must be established for research and applications which affect the integrity of the human being, such as the genetic modification of human embryos and the use of CRISPR-Cas9 type techniques. A precautionary principle must be applied, wherever there is any risk of exploiting the human body at whatever stage.
