Jean-Luc Godard Chose to End Life Through Assisted Dying, Lawyer Confirms
upstart writes:
Jean-Luc Godard chose to end life through assisted dying, lawyer confirms:
Jean-Luc Godard, the maverick French-Swiss director who revolutionised post-war cinema in Europe, died by assisted dying, his lawyer has confirmed.
The medical report on the death of the 91-year-old director said he had chosen to end his life. He "had recourse to legal assistance in Switzerland for a voluntary departure" because he was "stricken with 'multiple incapacitating illnesses'", Godard's legal council, Patrick Jeanneret, told AFP.
[...] The practice of assisted dying - helping someone take their own life at their request - is regulated in Switzerland and permitted if offered without a selfish motive to a person with decision-making capacity to end their own suffering.
Liberation quoted Godard's 2014, appearance on Swiss TV at that year's Cannes festival, when had been asked his views on dying. He said he didn't foresee wanting to continue living at any cost. "If I'm too ill, I don't have any desire to be lugged around in a wheelbarrow ... not at all," he said. Asked whether he could imagine resorting to assisted dying, he said: "yes", but added "for now", saying that the choice was "still very difficult."
In France the law allows doctors to keep terminally ill patients sedated until death but stops short of allowing assisted dying.
In a separate development before Godard's death was announced, the French president Emmanuel Macron confirmed this week that a national debate would be held to potentially broaden end-of-life options in France, with a citizens' assembly to consider issues around euthanasia and assisted dying.
What are your views on assisted dying? Are there exceptions to your views for extenuating circumstances? Could you support someone close to you if that was their choice?
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