“This evening, we invite passers-by, residents and travelers to ask themselves the right questions, while there is still time! », calls Arnould Casati, 44, Lyon spokesperson for the Soulager but not killing collective, a few hours before the meeting. Created in 2014, this movement brings together caregivers, people with disabilities, medical students and citizens committed to defending “a palliative culture” against euthanasia and assisted suicide.
A bill on the end of life by the end of the summer
This collective, sponsored by Philippe Pozzo di Borgo – a businessman who became a quadriplegic, whose life inspired the famous film Untouchables – seeks to raise awareness among the general public and to weigh in the political sphere, by organizing street actions and broadcasting videos of testimonies, at key moments in the debate on the end of life.
Tuesday April 4 at the end of the day, the day after the conclusions of the Citizens’ Convention and the announcement by the President of the Republic of a bill on active assistance in dying by the end of the summer , he called for mobilization in 40 French cities, from Paris to Bordeaux. In Lyon, several dozen activists imagined a happening combining artistic scenography and questioning passers-by to “address the street”.
Developing palliative care, a priority
It was by accompanying a loved one at the end of life and wondering about the future of his sick and aging parents that Arnould Casati was made aware of the importance of the palliative approach. Committed to the collective from the start, he observes that the development of palliative care is one of the priorities put forward on Monday April 3 by Emmanuel Macron.
But the collective says to itself ” very worried “ the acceleration of the timetable, moreover, in a tense social context. “There is a real risk of confusion between political choices of diversion and crucial social progress”, estimates the person in charge, who would like to see the population finally seizing the subject.
The risks of drifting from active assistance in dying
Relieve, but not kill invites citizens – “all potential helpers”reminds the collective – to wonder about the risks of drift, in particular the stigmatization of certain diseases or disabilities, the cessation of research for painkillers, or the weakening of the suicide prevention policy…
The future bill could, according to the members of the collective, open an endless breach: “In countries where euthanasia is already in force, the exceptions fall one by one, worries Arnould Casati. What was initially intended to concern people at the end of life is gradually opening up to the mentally ill or minors, when some even reflect on the weariness of living. »
