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France considers law on right to die
By Kerstin Gehmlich
REUTERS
November 26, 2004
PARIS – A draft French law to allow terminally ill patients to opt for death over further treatment has won widespread support following a wave of sympathy last year for a mother seeking euthanasia for her crippled son.
France's parliament will start debating the proposal today. It would allow doctors to switch off patients' life-support machines if "there is no hope to achieve an improvement in the person's health and if these extend life artificially."
The authors of the proposal – supported by the conservative government, opposition Socialists and the Roman Catholic Church – have emphasized that the bill does not copy voluntary euthanasia now legal in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The draft bill says terminally ill patients should have the right to ask for treatment to be stopped, even if that leads to death, and doctors should respect their wishes after verification with the patient and medical colleagues.
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