The Bioethics of Fiction: Sophie Jomain's Quand la nuit devient jour as Ethical Reflection on Eligibility Criteria for Assisted Dying

Abstract: This article centers on Sophie Jomain's Quand la nuit devient jour , a fictional account of the narrator's experience of accessing euthanasia in Belgium. Using Jomain's text as a model, it argues that fiction offers a valuable means of considering the ethical complexities of providing assisted dying on the basis of psychological and existential suffering, particularly as it reduces the stakes of such ethical reflection. Given the shifting legal and cultural frameworks surrounding the end of life in the francophone world and beyond, the article suggests that bioethical reflection through fiction has much to offer ongoing debates on the future of (medically) assisted dying.