Two authors propose a “citizen survey” on medical assistance in dying

Two Quebec women affected by the death of their friends in difficult circumstances come to different conclusions about medical assistance in dying.

“My friend Jocelyne died in excruciating suffering without the right to medical assistance in dying. She would like to end it as quickly as possible to stop the pain that was tormenting her,” explains Laurette Laurin, who has had a career as a lawyer emeritus, deputy minister and director of the École du Barreau du Québec, in an interview.

Declares herself an “unconditional supporter” of medical aid in dying and publishes with Florence Meney in Trécarré The last stretcha debate book about a heart-wrenching issue.

For his part, M^me Meney, the author of several books and a former journalist, is also in favor of medical aid in dying, but is concerned about the way it is applied, particularly with regard to vulnerable people who do not have access to care to ease their suffering. While writing this book, she thought a lot about her friend who, while dying, sought medical help to avoid suffering and wasting away. A decision she respected, but which she still has trouble accepting today.

Live first

In an interview on Newsboth women insist that their positions are not diametrically opposed, but that they have several differences that they wanted to express to reflect the diversity of perspectives on the issue.

“I’m not against human euthanasia, but we must first of all be concerned with the conditions under which our health system offers care at the end of life,” says the lady.^me Meny.

The medialization of “death with dignity” and the expansion of services available even in funeral homes can make us forget the seriousness of this gesture, he argues.

Citizen survey

For M^me Laurine, the point is not to cause death, but to end the suffering of a person who can’t take it anymore. He is not worried about the high rate of use of assisted dying. On the contrary, they believe that people are capable of making decisions. Her friend Jocelyne, placed in a palliative care home that did not perform the procedure, was so determined to die that she stopped eating and hydrating.

Book M^my Laurin et Meney aims to be a “citizen’s inquiry” into the meaning of life and death, supported by numerous exchanges with experts, political actors (including the instigator of the law, Véronique Hivon) and relatives of people who have chosen to die unmarried. .

Laurette Laurin and Florence Meney, Medical assistance in dying: the last rightTrécarré, 176 pp., $29.95.