[Press Release] Alliance VITA Deplores French Parliament’s Focus on “ART for All”

[Press Release] Alliance VITA Deplores French Parliament’s Focus on “ART for All”

by | October 25, 2018 | Bioethics, Press Releases

In its report published on Thursday, October 25, the French Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices (“OPECST”) did not wish to comment on allowing Assisted Reproduction Techniques (ART) for single women and female couples, deleting the criterion of infertility. They declare this legal modification as being “driven by societal pressure” and not by scientific progress.

However, “OPECST” does warn that permitting broader access to ART will imply dealing with filiation issues, investment costs for additional staff and risks to result in a “shortage of gamete donors“. Nevertheless, Alliance VITA disagrees with “OPECST”s favorable opinion to create private gamete banks. The stage would be set with the door wide open for the procreation market place.

Tugdual Derville, Alliance VITA’s General Delegate states :

“It is understandable that “OPECST” does not decide on extending access to ART without the criteria of infertility and without a male partner, because it is a societal question and not an issue of progress which would normally be treated by bioethical laws. However in our opinion,  discussing only about ART for “all” is focusing on the tree that hides the forest of issues that need to be discussed. Indeed, the genuine bioethical topics for “OPECST” are underestimated, albeit, they are crucial.

Firstly, we deplore that some authorities recommend trivializing the human embryos’ use as an instrument, OPECST wants to allow research which destroys embryos up until the 14th day. OPECST is more cautious for genetic and pre-conception testing. We lament its support for preimplantation detection of Down’s syndrome (Trisomy 21). Today these individuals are already the major victims targeted by this form of eugenics, and this Preimplantational Genetic Diagnosis would endorse stigmatizing and rejecting those with this chromosomal anomaly. “

Palliative Care and End-of-Life: 2nd French Public Awareness Campaign

by | October 22, 2018 | End of life, Palliative care

Upon request from the Minister of Solidarity and Health, for the second consecutive year, the French National Center for Palliative and End-of-Life Care (subsequently referred to by its French acronym: “CNSPFV”) has launched a public awareness campaign on October 15, for palliative care and the end-of-life. In particular, the communication focus targets those who are 50-70 years old.
After the first campaign conducted by “CNSPFV” in early 2017, a report subsequently published in February 2018 pointed out that 15% of general practitioners and 40% of the French population were still unaware of the existence of the recent “Claeys-Leonetti” law on the end-of-life.
The goal for this year’s campaign is to raise public awareness, and encourage thoughts and discussions about the end-of-life, and to eventually encourage writing advance directives. The campaign encompasses different facets: a TV campaign from October 14 to November 15 including questions: “How about discussing the aspects of the end of life?), information via social networks, material specifically for health professionals, and regional meetings…
The “CNSPFV” has also set up a new website intended to provide a reference information platform on palliative and end-of-life care that is adapted and accessible to everyone.
In addition, a new axis for the campaign is focused on supporting healthcare professionals who are most often concerned: general practitioners, nurses and care-givers.
As CNSPFV’s director, Dr. Véronique Fournier, initiated the campaign: “Beyond the issue of advance directives, the challenge is to collectively assuage the end-of-life topic”.
During the first “Let’s speak about the end-of-life” campaign in 2017, Alliance VITA warned against its ambiguity. The finding was that the official campaign presented outrageously simplified answers to complex issues, while amalgams still remained concerning deep sedation and euthanasia and assisted suicide. Based on feedback from its SOS end-of-life listening service, and assisted by its network of caregivers, Alliance VITA has edited a brochure on advance directives to clarify ambiguities and shed light on legal abuses. This practical guide can help the French public understand and write advance directives, while respecting medical ethics, and denouncing both euthanasia and unreasonable therapeutic obstinacy.
Since the 1st campaign in 2017, the French High Health Authority   (“HAS”) published its recommendations of good practice in implementing “deep and continuous sedation until death” in March 2018, provided for by the Claeys-Leoetti law. These recommendations are largely prompted by the CNSPFV’s work, carried out a few months earlier, describing the strict conditions and modalities for implementing this type of sedation.
It is regrettable that the new CNSPFV website doesn’t publish this information on its page describing a practice which must remain an exception, rather than the status quo.

World Medical Association Strongly Opposed to Euthanasia

by | October 12, 2018 | News

The World Medical Association * (WMA) remains strongly opposed to euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Under pressure from the Netherlands and Canada, (the rare countries which have legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide), the WMA Executive Council held meetings throughout the past year to withstand their intense lobbying efforts and to discuss end-of-life dilemmas.
During the debates held in regional meetings (in Asia, Europe, America, and Africa) all kinds of euthanasia practice were firmly rejected.
During the WMA General Assembly, recently held in Iceland from October 3 to 6, 2018, these countries finally withdrew their highly controversial proposal.
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* Established in 1947, the WMA is a global federation of 114 national doctors’ organizations. The WMA focuses worldwide on promoting accessibility and quality of healthcare by developing international standards and guidelines in the fields of healthcare, medical education, medical science, and medical ethics. The French National Order of Physicians is a member.
 

[Press Release] Court of Cassation / Surrogacy: Alliance VITA Speaks Out

[Press Release] Court of Cassation / Surrogacy: Alliance VITA Speaks Out

by | October 5, 2018 | Medically Assisted Procreation, Press Releases

On Friday, October 5, the Court of Cassation published its judgment ruling on the request for legal recognition in France to parent-child relationships for the Mennesson couple and their children born as a result of surrogacy. (Judgment No. 638 of October 5, 2018 (10-19.053) – Court of Cassation – Plenary Assembly).

Tugdual Derville, Alliance VITA’s General Delegate states: “The legal tragicomedy around this case has already gone on long enough. For 18 years, France has been facing the claims of a few victimizing adults.  These outlaws have broken French laws, and are trying to impose their own law: surrogacy that turns women into objects, and imposes fragmented maternity and artificial bonds of filiation on the child. This new twist has the advantage of pushing us to show the French President that, contrary to what he asserts, ART and surrogacy are two parts of the same culture that deliberately produces a child, and severs him from his biological roots. “

To request an advisory opinion from the European Court of Human Rights, which has never shown much determination in preserving the rights of the child, equals to refusing to fulfill its role.

In California in 2000, the Mennesson couple not only employed a surrogate mother, but also a woman to donate her oocytes.

Solidarity Between Generations

by | October 1, 2018 | Old age and Dependency

October 1st has been dedicated by the United Nations as the International Day of Older Persons (UNIDOP). This year, the UN is mobilizing to include older persons, in accordance with the guiding principle set forth by their Secretary General: “Don’t leave anyone behind”.
For several years, Alliance VITA has been reaffirming this commitment. For example by conducting the “Messages for Life” campaign, in the summer of 2015, they went out to meet older people who are often more isolated during the summer months. Volunteers helped collect information on older persons’ life experience, to be shared with younger generations. For the past two years, the VITA Youth teams have expanded the program to visit the elderly throughout the year. At the beaches during the summer, they also raise visibility among the vacationers, by acting as public ambassadors to promote solidarity between generations.
This valuable experience was shared in Strasbourg last June, at the European Youth Event “EYE”, organized by the European Parliament. A delegation from VITA Youth organized a workshop to reflect on the role of digital interaction to bridge the generational gap instead of widening it. More recently on September 22, in Brussels, VITA International participated in the JUBEL Festival, an exchange forum on European challenges. In partnership with the European Institute of Bioethics, Alliance VITA led discussions on the challenge of aging, while providing an opportunity for the VITA Youth to speak about their fight against exclusion and loneliness in old age.