2024-03-18 21:25:00
A person must “be at least 18 years old”; “be of French nationality or reside stably and regularly in France”; “to be able to express one’s will in a free and informed manner”; “to be suffering from a serious and incurable condition with a short or medium-term vital prognosis”; finally “present refractory or unbearable physical or psychological suffering linked to this condition”.
According to the wording adopted by the executive, “assisted dying consists of the administration of a lethal substance, carried out by the person themselves or, when the person is not physically able to do so. , by a doctor, a nurse or a volunteer designated by them.
The text, the outlines of which Emmanuel Macron had revealed a week ago, must now be presented to the Council of Ministers in April, probably at the beginning of the month, before beginning on May 27 in the hemicycle of the National Assembly a parliamentary review expected to last several months.
The deputies are preparing to set up, on April 10 a priori, a special commission to examine this very sensitive issue. The rapporteur could be the elected MoDem Olivier Falorni, who has been involved in this issue for a long time.
“Questions”
Demonstration in favor of active assistance in dying, January 23, 2024 in Paris AFP/Archives / Dimitar DILKOFF.
“We must respect everyone’s freedom of conscience,” argued Monday on LCI the Minister of Relations with Parliament Marie Lebec. “There are questions today, questions about the right balances,” she underlined, while reservations are emerging, including among certain Macronists.
The Minister of Health and Solidarity Catherine Vautrin, who will defend the text on behalf of the government, will be before the deputies of the presidential Renaissance party on Tuesday to answer their questions.
After months of reflection and several postponements, the Head of State presented in La Croix and Libération a “French model”, refusing to inscribe in stone the law the words “euthanasia” or “assisted suicide”, which can be divisive – even if this “assisted dying” can be similar in certain aspects.
Representatives of the main religions, notably Catholic, as well as some caregivers expressed their disagreements with the presidential choices.
Public opinion seems to be favorable to it. According to an Ifop-Fiducial survey for Sud Radio carried out after Emmanuel Macron’s arbitrations, these are approved by 82% of those questioned. Support is majority regardless of the political side of those surveyed.
According to the bill, it is the patient who requests assistance in dying from a doctor, who decides alone after consulting other caregivers, within fifteen days.
In the event of refusal, only the patient can file an appeal, “before administrative justice”.
If, on the contrary, assistance in dying is authorized, the doctor prescribes a “lethal substance” to the person, who will be “accompanied” until the end by a caregiver, even if they administer the product alone.
The text contains another part aimed at “strengthening supportive care and the rights of patients”.
This new concept of “supportive care” must replace “palliative care” in the law, with a broader definition: it will be “comprehensive care of the sick person to preserve their quality of life and their well-being and through support for those around them.
The text also lays the legal foundations for creating “support homes”, one of the priorities of the ten-year plan to strengthen palliative care that the executive must unveil by the end of March.
This strategy must also increase the means for this supportive care, which will reach 2.6 billion euros annually in ten years compared to 1.6 billion currently, strengthen pediatric palliative care, and set up an ad hoc unit in the 21 departments which do not yet have one.
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