Church in the World

Candidates ?exploiting euthanasia debate?

France

The Archbishop of Paris has accused France's presidential candidates of trying to exploit the recently reignited euthanasia debate for political purposes, writes Tom Heneghan.

"It's completely irresponsible," said Archbishop André Vingt-Trois, speaking on the archdiocesan Radio Notre Dame. "You don't play with fears and death to get elected president." Archbishop Vingt-Trois said French public opinion did not see the difference between treating suffering patients and killing them. "If the real question is the treatment of pain at the end of a life, we should make more palliative care available."

The archbishop said medical personnel increasingly supported euthanasia because they feared being sued for their decisions. "I don't think that's a sign of maturity," he said.

His comments followed a particularly lenient ruling on 15 March in France's latest euthanasia case, in which a doctor who prescribed potassium chloride for a woman with terminal cancer was handed down a one-year suspended jail sentence. The court in Périgueux also acquitted the nurse who injected the fatal dose.

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