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French president Francois Hollande wants to allow doctors to keep terminally ill patients sedated until death comes, amid a national debate about whether to legalize euthanasia.

Hollande stopped short of recommending lethal injections and avoided the terms euthanasia and assisted suicide, highly sensitive issues in this majority-Catholic country.

Instead, he called for a law that would give people "the right to deep, continuous sedation until death", at the patients' request, but only when their condition is life-threatening in the short term.

Doctors are divided about the idea. Hollande did not outline details of his proposal, but so-called terminal or palliative sedation can involve medicating patients until they die naturally of their illnesses, or until they starve.

Francois Hollande 法国总统弗朗索瓦•奥朗德

terminally ill adj. 身患绝症的，临终的

sedated adj. 使用镇静剂的 源于动词sedate，使镇静，给某人服用镇静剂

特别提醒：sedate本身也可作形容词，表示不慌不忙的，平淡的，要注意和sedated区分开来。

例句：

My grandparents lived in a sedate little village their whole lives. （我的祖父祖母一辈子都住在宁静的小村庄里。）

The patient finally calmed down after being sedated by the medical staff. （在被医务人员注射了镇静剂后，那位病人终于安静了下来。）

amid… prep. 在…期间，处于…环境中

euthanasia n. 安乐死 又称mercy killing（怜悯致死）。由于颇具争议性，还被持反对态度的人称为assisted suicide（协助自杀）。目前euthanasia只在荷兰、比利时等个别国家合法化。即便如此，也必须是voluntary euthanasia（自愿安乐死），否则不受法律保护。在绝大多数国家和地区，任何种类的euthanasia都属于犯罪行为。

stop short of … v. 决定不做某事，未达到… 后面跟名词或动名词。

例句：

My tardiness didn’t cause any real damage, so my boss stopped short of a pay cut. She just gave me a verbal warning. （我的迟到没有造成什么实际损失，所以老板决定不扣我工资。她只是给了我一个口头警告。）

He may withhold certain information from time to time, but he always stops short of telling lies. （他有时可能会隐瞒一些信息，但从不主动说谎。）

lethal injection n. 注射处死

majority-Catholic country 大多数人为天主教徒的国家 *天主教徒无比看重生命，所以一般都强烈反对安乐死和堕胎。

the right to something/do something 享有某物的权利/做某事的权利

例句：

You don’t intimidate me. I have the right to a fair trial. （你吓不了我。我有享受公正审判的权利。）

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. （你有权保持沉默 但是你所说的一切将作为呈堂证供。）

at someone’s request 应某人的要求

例句：

I don’t feel comfortable in suits, but I’m wearing one today at my professor’s request. （西装总让我觉得不自在，但今天应教授的要求我还是穿了一件。）

palliative adj. 治标的，缓和的，保守疗法的 n. 治标药物，权宜之计