[Press Release] Bioethics Bill: Alliance VITA Urges Senators to Fight against Injustice

[Press Release] Bioethics Bill: Alliance VITA Urges Senators to Fight against Injustice

by | December 4, 2019 | Bioethics Law, ART, Press Releases

On December 3, in a hearing at the French Senate, Alliance VITA appealed to the Special Bioethics Committee to conscientiously revise and upgrade its’ ethical decisions.

Caroline Roux, Alliance VITA’s Assistant General Delegate and Blanche Streb, Alliance VITA’s Training Director called for an honest appraisal of the human and social consequences of assisted reproductive techniques (ART), prenatal genetic screening, and for research using human embryos.

If the draft bill is approved in its’ current form, it would represent the collapse of most of the ethical barriers that France has allegedly held for the past 25 years. Alliance VITA calls for vigilance in the Senate to correct 3 serious injustices in this bill: allowing the right to have a child without a father, intensifying prenatal selection and the increasing use of human embryos as laboratory materials.

Three bioethical priorities must prevail:

  • France must refuse the worldwide procreation market. Relinquishing the infertility criterion, would allow ART for women without a male partner, and be 100% reimbursement by the state.
  • This creates a “right to have a child” without a father, to the detriment to the child’s best interest;
  • It diverts medicine and health insurance funds, whereas the French are currently facing the delisting of many necessary drugs;
  • This lays the groundwork for legalizing surrogacy.
  • The issue of unreasonable prenatal selection should be re-examined. France is the most eugenic country in the world, with medically-authorized abortion rates at almost 100% for some handicaps. Instead of assisting traumatized parents when faced with a diagnosis of disability, the current draft provides additional widespread support for abortion, despite the government’s claim of being inclusive and tolerant toward those with disabilities.
  • The fundamental principle to respect the integrity of the human race should be upheld: by maintaining the ban on creating chimerical animal-human embryos, transgenic embryos and artificial gametes. It is up to the senators to stand firm against scientific abuse, which would lead to:
  • increasingly using human embryos as laboratory materials,
  • using some human beings solely for research and/or profit,
  • wiping out the difference between humans and animals.

 

Caroline Roux, Alliance VITA’s Assistant General Delegate :

“Together with the organizers of the “March for the Children!” we urge citizens to protest against the injustices in this bill, by taking part in the national demonstration on January 19, 2020. Technology alone cannot supersede our bioethics boundaries, whose purpose is to protect human dignity, primarily the lives of the most vulnerable individuals. Three significant priorities must be addressed: to genuinely fight against infertility, to stop the eugenic spiral, and to respect the integrity of the humans. Although totally absent in the original text, these issues were subsequently addressed in the National Assembly. Today, French Senators still have the opportunity to improve the protection of society’s most vulnerable individuals. “

 

French Bioethics Bill Violates Children’s Rights

by | November 20, 2019 | Bioethics, News

Just as France marks its 30th anniversary for signing the United Nations Children’s Rights Convention (UNCRC), Alliance VITA decries the country’s current bioethics bill which violates inherent protections established by this same international convention. 

Bear in mind that Article 7 of this Convention states: “The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to have a name, the right to have a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.”  Furthermore, Article 3 declares: “In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.” The French government is on the verge of violating the convention with a bioethics draft law which would legalize the right to have a child without a father, thus systematically allowing an absence of any paternal reference immediately from birth, to the detriment of the child’s best interests and his well-being.

The revised text currently recommends abolishing the anonymity for gamete donations, which reflects the complexity of ART with third party donors, and the fundamental violation of human rights for children conceived via this procedure. This situation would be further aggravated by allowing ART for all women without a male partner. The fact that the law’s co-rapporteur, Jean-Louis Touraine has already pushed to allow national registration for children born abroad via surrogacy is an ominous foreshadowing that this practice of buying and selling women’s bodies and their babies will become legal in the future.

Alliance VITA defends the principles inherent in the UNCRC, in particular Article 35 which specifies that: “States Parties shall take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form.” The association also underlines the bill’s violation of article 23: “States Parties recognize that a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community.”

With a growing list of conditions which allow “medical” abortions, and increased prenatal screening for disabilities, France continues its current policy as “one of the most eugenic countries in the world ” according to Professor Didier Sicard, the former President of the French National Consultative Ethics Committee, rather than extending support to disabled individuals throughout their life.

Tugdual Derville, Alliance VITA’s General Delegate states :

“The future of humanity lies on our children. And the child is humanity’s most vulnerable citizen; the one most in need of protection. Thus, instead of being trampled upon, the child’s best interest has to take priority when faced with categorical and individualistic demands. A child cannot righteously be deprived of his father. And regarding the disturbing issue of eugenics, it’s like a family secret for the whole country. Nobody made a real decision, but life may only begin after passing an ultra-selective quality control process. The issue of abuse and neglect should be broadened to encompass the basic violation of human rights that have a major impact on how society functions. Because, if we do not give a place in society for our most vulnerable individuals, we will continue to grow more fearful of imperfections, infirmities, and frailties, especially when death is near. That’s why children’s rights are a concern for all of us, at every age of life. “

WMA Reiterates Opposition to Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide

WMA Reiterates Opposition to Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide

by | November 7, 2019 | Euthanasia and Suicide, News

On October 26, the World Medical Association (WMA) reasserted its opposition to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide during its’ annual Assembly in Tbilisi, Georgia, stating that these practices violate “the principles of medical ethics “.

The Netherlands and Canada, who carried out intense lobbying to modify the WMA’s position, have decided to leave the Association.

After an intensive process of consultation with physicians and non-physicians around the world, the 2002 resolution has been replaced by a revised Declaration on Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide, which clearly states the WMA’s opposition to it. Strongly committed to the principles of medical ethics, the WMA emphasizes that the primary role of health professionals is to maintain utmost respect for human life.

The new declaration recognizes the legitimate right of conscientious objection by doctors who do not want to practice euthanasia and assisted suicide in countries where these practices have been legalized. It also recognizes that “the physician who respects the basic right of the patient to decline medical treatment, does not act unethically in forgoing or withholding unwanted care” even if respecting such a wish results in the death of the patient.

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* Founded in 1947, the WMA is composed of 20,000 doctors from 112 countries.

Euthanasia: Pentobarbital Drug Trafficking Network Dismantled in France

Euthanasia: Pentobarbital Drug Trafficking Network Dismantled in France

by | November 4, 2019 | News, Euthanasia and Suicide

On October 15, 2019, police carried out approximately a hundred raids for illegal possession of Pentobarbital, seizing 130 bottles of this very strong barbiturate, which is banned in France.

The central office in the fight against environmental and public health attacks (“OCLAESP”) and the Central Criminal Intelligence Service (“SCRC”) issued a warning, which led the prosecutor’s office in Paris to open an investigation on July 26, 2019. The case was entrusted to the Directorate General of the National Gendarmerie (“DGGN”) on the grounds of “smuggling goods which are dangerous to public health”, “illegally practicing the profession of pharmacist” and ” advertising products or manners of killing oneself “.

Pentobarbital, marketed under the name of Nembutal, was passed through French customs and was declared as being a cosmetic product such as perfume for its consumers in France.

Several members of the Ultimate Freedom association, in favor of euthanasia, illegally owned the products. According to AFP, this association claims to have 2,700 members. “Members often have a high social-cultural level, have never suffered during their life, and do not want to yield or surrender to anyone whomsoever at death,” said AFP President Claude Hury. Another member, 85-year-old Christian Meriot, defines himself as “a libertarian, a free-thinker”.

In France, pentobarbital has been banned for medical use in humans since 1996.  One may recall that it was used by Chantal Sébire.

[Press Release] Alliance VITA Publishes New Guide for Advance Directives

[Press Release] Alliance VITA Publishes New Guide for Advance Directives

by | October 22, 2019 | End of life, Advance directives, Palliative care, Press Releases

“I wish it could have ended in a different way …” Alliance VITA has just launched the publication of its’ new Guide for Advance Directives, sometimes referred to as a living will.

The law stipulates that every individual can:

  • write his personal advance directives, a document specifying his wishes regarding treatment in the event that he is no longer able to speak for himself;
  • designate a person of trust to represent him; also known as “Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care”.

In 2017, only 14% of French people had already written their advance directives, according to the IFOP survey conducted for Alliance VITA. Some highly publicized end-of-life cases have reignited discussions about this topic, but it can be difficult to draft such a document alone.

Drawing on its extensive experience through its SOS End-of-Life Listening Service, Alliance VITA has edited a Guide to Advance Directives. This customizable guide encourages a trustful relationship between caregivers and patients, and includes practical issues that occur at the end-of-life: the place of care, how to maintain relationships, spiritual needs, and a possible agreement for organ donation. In accordance with the law, the underlying charter for these directives excludes both unreasonable obstinacy (unnecessary and disproportionate treatment) and euthanasia.

This new guide has been well received by both health professionals and the public, thus attesting that it provides a useful service to the general public.

Those who tested the first editions of this guide booklet appreciated its flexibility and clarity, which are even further enhanced in this all-new edition.