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THE
COUNCIL OF EUROPE (COE)
Report on Euthanasia presented to the Parliamentary
Assembly of the COE
LATEST NEWS
We
have the pleasure to inform you that "The Marty report"
has been rejected by a vast majority in the Parliamentary
assembly of the Council of Europe on Wednesday the 27th 2005.
You can read more at:
http://www.coe.int/T/E/Com/Files/PA-Sessions/APRIL
2005/20050427_news_debat.asp
We
would like to thank all our members who had contributed to
make this happen.
Read
details about the development hereunder.
07
January 2004: ACTION
TOWARDS THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
The
“Société française d’accompagnement
et de soins palliatifs” (SFAP) EAPC collective member
has informed the EAPC Board of Directors about a "report
on euthanasia (no 9898)"
http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/doc03/EDOC9898.htm
which should have been discussed by the parliamentary assembly
of the COE in their session at the end of September 2003.
With
a number of resolutions presented by Mr. Dick Marty, Switzerland,
this report invites the parliamentary assembly to call governments
of the member states of the Council of Europe ‘to consider
whether legislation should be envisaged, where it has not
already been introduced, to exempt from prosecution doctors
who agree to help terminally ill patients undergoing constant,
unbearable pain and suffering without hope of any improvement
in their condition, to end their lives at their persistent,
voluntary and well considered request, subject to prescribed
rigorous and transparent conditions and procedures’.
SFAP
has reacted strongly, contacting its national representatives
on the COE. The discussion of the report has now been postponed
until the session of the Assembly held from 26 to 30 in January
2004.
The
EAPC’s Board of Director has decided to react to the
report by highlighting to the parliamentary assembly the need
to implement better palliative care.
The EAPC as NGO has written directly to the President of the
Parliamentary Assembly, asking to inform the parliamentary
assembly about the stand of the EAPC. Download
letter
The EAPC has contacted all the national Associations and asked
them to discuss the report within (the Board of) your Association
and if they think it appropriate to approach the parliamentary
representatives of their country.
The
following National Associations Collective members informed
the EAPC Head office and the President that they sustain the
EAPC or have acted themselves at national level.
| FRANCE |
Société
Française d'Accompagnement de Soins Palliatifs |
SFAP |
National
Action |
| GREECE |
Hellenic
Association for Pain Control & Palliative Care |
HAPCPC |
Sustain
EAPC |
| ITALY |
Federazione
Cure Palliative Onlus |
FedCP |
National
Action |
| Società
Italiana di Cure Palliative |
SICP |
National
Action |
| NORWAY |
Norwegian
Association for Palliative Medicine |
NFPM |
National
Action |
| SPAIN |
Soc.
Española de Cuidados Paliativos |
SECPAL |
National
Action |
| SWEDEN |
Swedish
Association for Palliative Medicine |
SFPM |
Sustain
EAPC |
| SWITZERLAND |
Société
Suisse de Médecine et de Soins Palliatifs |
SSMSP |
National
Action |
| UNITED
KINGDOM |
Association
of Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Social Workers |
AHSPCSW |
Sustain
EAPC |
The EAPC has organised together with the two Italian Collective
members a press conference in Milano, National Cancer institute,
20 January 2004, which has had good rebound in the Italian
press.
We
would like to officially thank the Agency Nanetti
& Associati for supporting the EAPC in this activity
free of charge.
18
February 2004
In date of 9 January the EAPC has received an official reply
from the Head of the Private office of
the President of the Parliamentary Assembly.
Download
letter
The
MARTY report on Euthanasia (background information hereafter),
scheduled for the January session of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe, once again has been taken of the
agenda. Reasons are amongst others the number of reactions
of members of the parliamentary assembly.
We are sure the actions of the EAPC and our members have contributed
to the postponement.
With January 2004 the EAPC, as NGO of the Council of Europe,
has obtained the participative status. The EAPC intends to
write amendments on the Marty resolution, that thanks to the
new status of NGO's can be brought into the parliamentary
meeting directly, provided they are supported by other NGO's
in the health care group and by 10 parliamentaries.
07
May 2004
The
MARTY report on Euthanasia (background information hereafter),
had been submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe, in date of 27 March. It was not adopted and sent
back to the Commission to be represented within one year.
This means the original draft resolution is withdrawn and
had to rewritten again, or to quote the secretary of the committee:
Mr Marty had to start from scratch.
November
2004
Since
May the committee of the Marty report has had two meetings
the last one on the 15th of November 2004. The new title of
the rewritten document will be: Assistance to patients at
the end of life. The next meeting to discuss the new draft
will be on the 17th of December in Paris, . If the Committee
agrees with the new report, adopted or not, the new resolution
will again be send to the parliamentary council, which gives
new opportunities to make amendments.
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