After long months of reflection and several postponements, Emmanuel Macron announced, on Sunday March 10 in an interview with Libération and La Croix, that a bill opening “assisted dying” under “strict conditions” would be presented in April in the Council of Ministers, with a view to a first reading in May in the National Assembly.
It is, he argues, a law “necessary because there are cases that we cannot accept humanly”, but also a “law of assembly”, “of fraternity”. , “which reconciles the autonomy of the individual and the solidarity of the nation.” “With this text, we look death in the face,” he says.
The parliamentary process promises to be long and the outcome will probably not come before 2025. In a message on X, Yaël Braun-Pivet explains that she “will ensure that the debates in the National Assembly take place with dignity, in respect for each person’s beliefs.”
Adult patients, “capable of full and complete discernment”, suffering from an “incurable illness” with a “short or medium term vital prognosis” and suffering “refractory” suffering (unable to be relieved) will be able to “ ask to be able to be helped in order to die,” the head of state clarified to the two daily newspapers. Minors and patients suffering from psychiatric or neurodegenerative illnesses which impair discernment, such as Alzheimer’s, will therefore be excluded.
Patient “consent” required
In the event of a favorable collegial opinion from the medical team, a lethal substance will be prescribed to the person, which they can administer themselves, or with the help of a third party if they “are not in control”. able to do this physically.”
This third party may be “a voluntary person whom he or she designates when no technical constraints prevent this”, or “the doctor or nurse who accompanies him”, depending on the text which must be transmitted from here in ten days at the Council of State. Administration can take place at home, at the nursing home or in a care establishment.
After the patient’s request, “there is a minimum of two days of waiting to test the solidity of the determination”, explains Emmanuel Macron. “Then the response must be within a maximum of fifteen days. In the event of a favorable response, the prescription is valid for three months, during which the patient can, of course, withdraw at any time,” he adds. It specifies that in the event of an unfavorable opinion the patient can “go and see another medical team” or “proceed with appeals”.
Even if this act can be compared to a form of assisted suicide, the president assures that he wanted to avoid this term, or that of euthanasia, because the “consent” of the patient is essential and “the medical decision has its role to play” , “with precise criteria.”
Strengthening palliative care
At the same time, a ten-year strategy to strengthen palliative care will be presented at the end of March, and some of its provisions will be included in the same bill.
Over ten years, “that’s a billion euros more that we are going to invest there”, in addition to the 1.6 billion euros currently devoted to supportive care, he specifies. A palliative care unit will be created in each of the twenty-one departments that do not have one.
Changing the end-of-life law of 2016, which admits “deep and continuous sedation” in the event of intolerable suffering when the vital prognosis is engaged in the short term, was a campaign promise of Emmanuel Macron.
Anxious not to offend sensitivities, particularly religious ones, Emmanuel Macron agreed to “take the time”, displaying his hesitations, organizing a citizens’ convention and multiplying dinners to listen to luminaries of ethics, the medical world and cults. “I took away from these exchanges this legitimate fear that we would assign a value to life, that we would suggest that there would be lives that have become useless. No never. I believe the text removes ambiguities,” he says.
“Finally, France is emerging from the hesitation of recent months,” responded the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity (ADMD), which welcomes “a fairly precise timetable.”
The Head of State estimates, in the interview, that “thousands of people and families are waiting” for this development, but he also recognizes that this law cannot be “totally” consensual.
“I am not naive”, “there will be opposition”, even “violent attacks”, “and we will have to hold on”, he insists, while assuring that “this exemplary democratic progress has made it possible to pacify the debate “.
