Association for the Right to Die with Dignity

The Association pour le droit de mourir dans la dignité (ADMD), known in English as the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity, is a French non-profit advocacy organization founded in 1980. It campaigns for the legal right of each person to have an end of life consistent with their personal conceptions of dignity and liberty. In practice, the ADMD seeks the passage of a French law legalizing voluntary active euthanasia and assisted suicide, alongside universal access to palliative care, modelled on the Belgian law that has existed since 2002. It also works to inform the public about patients' rights, including advance directives, the refusal of therapeutic obstinacy, and the role of a trusted person, and it operates a telephone listening and support line. The association was founded by Pierre Simon, a physician and former Grand Master of the Grande Loge de France, the politician Henri Caillavet, and the writer Michel Lee Landa. Its governance has included a series of presidents, among them Michel Lee Landa, Pascal Landa, Paul Chauvet, Henri Caillavet, Jacques Pohier, Jean Cohen, Gérard Payen, and Jean-Luc Romero-Michel, who served from June 2007 to 2021. Since 2 October 2021, the president has been Jonathan Denis, elected by the general assembly of members. The actress Line Renaud is the association's sponsor. The ADMD is a national, secular association with a humanitarian vocation. Its stated purpose is to promote the right to dispose freely and thoughtfully of one's own person, and to work for the recognition and lawful exercise of the right to choose freely the moment and manner of ending one's life according to one's philosophical and moral convictions. It advocates three forms of care: palliative care, euthanasia (where a physician performs the act), and assisted suicide (where the person self-administers a lethal product under medical supervision). It explicitly forbids any incitement to suicide and opposes euthanasia based on political, economic, or social motives, as well as any euthanasia performed without the request of the person concerned. The organization is structured with active, benefactor, honorary members, and an honorary committee. It has a board of directors, an executive bureau, national and local delegations, and complementary bodies such as commissions. The board is composed of fourteen members: twelve elected by the members and two delegates elected by their peers. General assemblies are held under the supervision of a bailiff. The ADMD also runs a solidarity shop, a podcast called Point Final, and campaigns such as the ADMD Tour. Public opinion polling commissioned by the ADMD has shown strong French support for its cause. In 2021, an Ifop poll found that 93% of French people favoured a law authorizing doctors to end, without suffering, the life of people with unbearable and incurable diseases if they request it. In 2022, another Ifop poll found that 82% of French people considered active assistance in dying to be a form of care. In 2023, a Cluster17 study for Le Point concluded that 83% of French people favoured a right to active euthanasia.

The Association pour le droit de mourir dans la dignité (ADMD) was founded in 1980 by Pierre Simon, a physician and former Grand Master of the Grande Loge de France, the politician and former senator and minister Henri Caillavet, and the writer Michel Lee Landa. Michel Lee Landa served as president in 1980–1981, and was succeeded by his son Pascal Landa from 1981 to 1983. Paul Chauvet became president in 1983, followed by Henri Caillavet in 1986. The theologian Jacques Pohier, who had previously been secretary general, served as president from 1992 to 1994. The physician Jean Cohen took the presidency from 2001 to 2005, and the pulmonologist Gérard Payen succeeded him from 2005 to 2007. Jean-Luc Romero-Michel held the office from June 2007 to 2021. Since 2 October 2021, the president has been Jonathan Denis, elected by the general assembly of members. From its creation in 1980, the lawyer Anne-Marie Dourlen-Rollier joined the association and served as vice-president. Other figures who sat on the board of directors include Hubert Moreau, Édith and Gilbert Brunet, Paula Caucanas-Pisier (secretary general in the 1980s), Simone Cruchon, Marguerite Liégeois, and Odette Thibault. The actress Line Renaud is the association's sponsor. Throughout its history, the ADMD has pursued a consistent objective: to change French law so that each person is respected in their convictions concerning their own end of life, by opening a right to active assistance in dying. It points to the Swiss model of assisted suicide and the Belgian model of voluntary active euthanasia, while rejecting the Oregon model in the United States, where assisted suicide takes place without medical accompaniment. The association also plays an information role for the public regarding patients' rights, including therapeutic obstinacy, advance directives, and the trusted person. It seeks to ensure that current law is respected, both nationally by alerting authorities to cases where the law is not applied, and individually through a telephone line offering listening and assistance to anyone seeking support or information on the subject. The ADMD is a national, secular association with a humanitarian vocation. Its social purpose is to promote the right to dispose freely and thoughtfully of one's own person, and to work for the recognition and lawful exercise of the right to choose freely the moment and manner of ending one's life according to one's philosophical and moral conceptions. It aims to ensure respect for the dignity of persons by taking into account their expressed intentions, so that they may endure their end of life in the conditions they wish—appropriate fight against pain, right to refuse therapeutic obstinacy—and may obtain active assistance for a gentle deliverance if they have expressed that wish unequivocally. The ADMD militates for three forms of care: palliative care, euthanasia (where the physician performs the medical act), and assisted suicide (where the person self-administers the lethal product under medical supervision). The association forbids any incitement to suicide and opposes euthanasia based on political, economic, or social motives, as well as any euthanasia performed without the request of the person concerned. The association is composed of active, benefactor, and honorary members, and an honorary committee. It has a board of directors, an honorary committee, an executive bureau, national and local delegations, and complementary bodies such as commissions. Young people are also represented. The board of directors is composed of fourteen members: twelve elected by the members and two delegates elected by their peers, all with deliberative voice. The ADMD organizes ordinary and extraordinary general assemblies under the supervision of a bailiff. The board elects an executive bureau, which manages the association, takes necessary decisions, and reports on its activity to the board. The title of honorary member is awarded by the board to persons who render or have rendered services to the association; it confers the right to vote at the general assembly and to attend board meetings without a deliberative voice. Public opinion polling has been a key part of the ADMD's advocacy. In 2021, an Ifop poll commissioned by the ADMD found that 93% of French people were in favour of a law authorizing doctors to end, without suffering, the life of people with unbearable and incurable diseases if they request it. In 2022, an Ifop poll found that 82% of French people considered active assistance in dying to be a form of care. In 2023, a study by Cluster17 for Le Point concluded that 83% of French people were in favour of a right to active euthanasia.

• 2023

  Cluster17 study for Le Point concludes 83% of French people favour a right to active euthanasia.

• 2022

  Ifop poll finds 82% of French people consider active assistance in dying to be a form of care.

• 2021

  Jonathan Denis elected president on 2 October 2021.

• 2021

  Ifop poll commissioned by ADMD finds 93% of French people favour legalizing medically assisted death on request.

• 2007

  Jean-Luc Romero-Michel becomes president (June 2007–2021).

• 2005

  Gérard Payen serves as president (2005–2007).

• 2001

  Jean Cohen serves as president (2001–2005).

• 1992

  Jacques Pohier serves as president (1992–1994).

• 1986

  Henri Caillavet becomes president.

• 1983

  Paul Chauvet becomes president.

• 1981

  Pascal Landa becomes president (1981–1983).

• 1980

  Association founded by Pierre Simon, Henri Caillavet, and Michel Lee Landa.

• 1980

  Michel Lee Landa serves as president (1980–1981).

Secular, humanitarian national association advocating for the legal right to a dignified end of life in France.

1. 1Pour une fin de vie digne en France | ADMDadmd.org
2. 2Association for the Right to Die with Dignity – Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Association pour le droit de mourir dans la dignité – Wikipédiafr.wikipedia.org