Experts are concerned that the issues surrounding euthanasia are being ignored

The non-profit organisation Mäi Wëllen, Mäi Wee, in collaboration with the municipal council of Strassen, organised a round-table discussion entitled ‘Death Today and Tomorrow’ (Stierwen haut a mue). The discussion highlighted serious shortcomings in Luxembourg’s approaches to euthanasia and palliative care. Seventeen years after the relevant law came into force, many key issues remain unresolved. In practice, legal uncertainties create difficulties in making end-of-life decisions for both patients and doctors. Although only minor amendments are required to modernise the legislation, the National Commission for the Supervision of Euthanasia and representatives of Mäi Wëllen and Mäi Wee note a reluctance on the part of politicians to review the current regulations.

In particular, the association’s campaigners, Jean-Jacques Schonckert and François Prum, insist that the right to euthanasia should be extended to children and adolescents. However, political discussions are currently moving in the opposite direction. Furthermore, psychiatrist Marc Graas describes as unacceptable the fact that, due to the vague wording of the law, people are deprived of the opportunity to determine the circumstances of their own death. According to him, the state is effectively restricting patients’ autonomy by not allowing them to set out clear wishes regarding the end of their lives in advance, for example, in the event of developing dementia in the future.

Alongside legal barriers, experts point to an acute shortage of palliative care facilities. Ben Thill, a specialist in the field, highlights the fact that there is only one hospice operating in Luxembourg — Haus Omega (Haus Omega). By way of comparison, in the neighbouring German region of Saarland, whose population is only slightly larger than that of Luxembourg, there are 15 hospices, 10 palliative care units and 10 mobile teams. Till described Luxembourg as a ‘developing country’ in the field of palliative care, adding that many local doctors lack the relevant qualifications. Cilly Soragna, a nurse with experience in both fields, emphasises that patients should have access to both palliative care and euthanasia. Following the meeting, participants agreed that society has long been in need of a broad and open discussion on these issues.