French MPs start to weigh up issues over assisted dying

A French parliamentary commission on Monday began the long task of examining proposals to be included in a controversial bill backed by French President Emmanuel Macron that would allow citizens to apply for assisted dying.

A parliamentary commission in France's National Assembly will discuss details of a bill that would allow French people suffering from incurable illnesses the chance to get help to die. AFP - JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN

The initiative is the brainchild of Health Minister Catherine Vautrin, who said a commission-approved text would be submitted to the full parliament on 27 May. A final vote is unlikely before 2025.

Macron said last month that France needed the law. "There are situations you cannot humanely accept. The goal is to reconcile the autonomy of the individual with the solidarity of the nation," he added.

However, he says he only wants people suffering incurable illnesses and intense physical or psychological pain to have the right to ask for help to die.

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Over the coming weeks, the parliamentary commission will take in recommendations from doctors, religious leaders and psychologists. Leading philosophers, sociologists are also expected to be consulted.

"We need to listen to everybody," said commission head Agnes Firmin de Bodo, a former junior health minister.

Eligibility

Vautrin told the Corse Matin newspaper that the text was "extremely balanced", notably thanks to the strict conditions for its application.

Only people born in France or long-term residents will be allowed to apply for assisted dying.

Eligible patients will have to be over 18, able to clearly express their wishes and suffer from a condition that limits their life expectancy to the short or medium term.

Psychiatric illnesses are specifically ruled out from the bill, as are neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's.

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If approved, the law would represent progress and humanity, said Olivier Falorni, the commission's spokesman.

Firmin de Bodo added that she hoped for calm exchanges in parliament. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal urged lawmakers to show the greatest respect towards everybody's convictions.

Lobbies

Macron's centrist allies and left-wing lawmakers are expected to argue in favour of the bill, with right-wing and far-right parliamentarians broadly hostile.

The Catholic church and some healthworkers are opposed to the bill, but the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity (ADMD) said it was a first step towards a new right at the end of life.

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“This is the first time in France that a government has introduced legislation to legalise active assistance in dying," ADMD said in a statement.

However, it said it would oppose the reference to “terminal prognosis in the short or medium term” since it "effectively excludes all slowly progressing illnesses which are accompanied by significant deterioration in the advanced stages".

Choice

Parliamentary leaders of all parties in the National Assembly have said that they will not pressure their MPs to follow the party line.

Until now, French patients in pain wishing to end their lives have had to travel abroad, including to neighbouring Belgium and Switzerland.

A 2005 law legalised passive euthanasia, such as withholding artificial life support, and doctors are allowed to induce "deep and continuous sedation" for terminally ill patients in pain.

But active euthanasia, whereby doctors administer lethal doses of drugs to patients, is illegal. Assisted suicide – meaning patients can receive help to voluntarily take their own life – is also banned.

Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands, Spain, Canada, Australia, Colombia, Belgium and Luxembourg under certain conditions.

(with newswires)