De l'acharnement thérapeutique au faire mourir

The relative laws at the end of life differ considerably from country to country. They parallel to evolve the changes occurred in the medical relation which passes from a form of paternalism where it is the doctor who decides what is best for the patient with a relation of autonomy where the claim of the right of each one to decide its own life is acquired. One can distinguish overall three stages in this evolution: rejection of the therapeutic eagerness and its corollary the assertion of the palliative care, to let it die and to make it die. Only the palliative care reaches a consensus and is recognized explicitly like a right to health. To let die and make it die are the object of sharp controversies morals of which it is advisable to analyze the principal elements.