French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Sunday that a highly-regulated "end of life" bill, would be presented to the Council of Ministers in April, with a view to a first reading in the National Assembly in May. The decision has provoked outrage from the Church.
After many months of reflection and several postponements, President Macron finally unveiled his "French model for the end of life" on Sunday. He clarified that the controversial legislation only allows adults to seek "assisted dying" under strict conditions: minors and patients suffering from psychiatric or neurodegenerative diseases that impair discernment, such as Alzheimer's, will be excluded.
In the next ten days, the proposed bill – which is applicable to individuals with a terminal illness where their life expectancy is short to medium term and suffering remains unassuaged – will be referred to the State Council, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal revealed.
This "assistance" will be subject to the collective consensus of the medical team within 15 days. If the medical team gives a favourable opinion, the patient will be prescribed a lethal substance, which they will be able to administer themselves, or with the help of a third party if they are "unable to do so physically" due to certain neurodegenerative diseases such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
Although this act may be similar to a form of assisted suicide, Macron insisted that he wanted to avoid using this term, or that of euthanasia, as the debate on the subject is heated in France.
Anticipating opposition from right-wing members of the Assembly, Attal stressed that a calm and enlightening debate, respecting differing views, is expected. He described the overdue legislative change as "progress".
'Deception'
The Church sharply criticised Macron's "aid in dying" bill on Monday morning, however, citing "deception", "something incomprehensible" and "an absence of fraternity".
"Labelling a text that opens up both assisted suicide and euthanasia a "law of fraternity" is a deception. No matter what we want, such a law will steer our entire healthcare system towards death as a solution," Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, President of the French Bishops' Conference, told La Croix.
"The President of the Republic is presenting a text on what he calls "aid in dying", but on palliative care, [they are] vague promises with a very approximate cost," he added. "Nowhere does it mention a specific conscience clause: isn't that something that's missing?" he asked, urging ministers "to appreciate just how ambiguous the text is."
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In an interview published by La Croix and Libération on Sunday evening, the Head of State announced that the government's bill, which would also include a section to strengthen palliative care, would be presented to the Council of Ministers in April for a first reading in the National Assembly in May, before the European elections in June.
Changing the 2016 end-of-life law was one of Macron's campaign promises, but after setting up a citizens' convention on the subject, he has postponed his decision several times.
Several European countries already have legislation authorising euthanasia and/or assisted suicide. Along with the Netherlands, Belgium was one of the first two European countries to legalise the procedure 20 years ago.
