the Convention told from the inside, episode 8

► Marion N., 81 years old, beneficiary of the minimum old age

Marion is one of the eight people in a precarious situation that the Convention on the end of life wanted to include among the citizens drawn by lot. Since the death, in 2021, of her companion, taken away by cancer, she has lived in a residence for the elderly in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis) and rarely sees her three grown children. She receives the minimum old age pension – just over €900 per month – and has been active in ATD Fourth World since 1994.

“Frankly, it’s not so bad that the Convention is ending because I’m starting to get really tired of all these discussions where I feel like if I talk or if I don’t say anything, it’s the same thing, no one listens to me.

An example: on the Saturday of this 8th session, I found myself in the group of those who are against a change in the law towards euthanasia and assisted suicide. We had to choose one or two drawings among those made by the illustrators who follow our work to make the final document that we must submit to the government on Sunday April 2 more pleasant.

There was one that looked pretty good to me, showing a woman who was on the street. I am part of the small group of activists from ATD Fourth World who represent people in great precariousness at the Convention. This is a subject that touches me because I have experienced this situation. But all the other members of the group rejected my choice because the drawing was supposedly too miserable. So I got angry. It didn’t help, but it did me good.

It’s crazy all the same that we are discussing a new law to authorize euthanasia and assisted suicide, when hospitals are already not even capable of treating people properly. In the residence where I live, in Aubervilliers, I know an old gentleman who has had prostate surgery. He was told to go home just hours after waking up because there were not enough beds. And in the countryside, it’s even worse: there are places where there isn’t even a hospital anymore!

It seems that just after the end of the Convention, we will all be received at the Élysée Palace by President Macron, on Monday April 3. If I had one thing to say to him, it would be to come and see what is going on in the residence for the elderly where I live. We have miserable incomes, the buildings are degraded, the inhabitants left to themselves. It’s up to me, at 81, to do the shopping for a 102-year-old grandma. Before making a law for those who want to die, it would be nice to take care of the living a little better, wouldn’t it?

What surprises me the most in this affair is the number of people in the Convention in favor of euthanasia or assisted suicide. Especially among young people. For what ? I don’t know. But you should ask yourself. Either way, it’s funny to me. »

► Julian L., 36, civil servant

Julian, originally from Ardèche, has been living in Loire-Atlantique for four years after starting his career in Paris. His university course in political science and European politics led him to become a civil servant. This spatial planning specialist works in Nantes but lives in the countryside, in the north of the department.

“This penultimate session marked a turning point in the convention: that of the virtual completion of our collective reflection and the stabilization of the “deliverable”, the final document that we will submit to the government on April 2.

Several sequences of collective proofreading made it possible to adjust certain formulations. For example, in a sentence on the mentally ill, we replaced the expression “who no longer have their capacity for discernment” by “who have lost”, because this absence can be temporary. On this sensitive subject of the end of life, each word has its importance.

On Saturday, at the end of the day, all of our production was displayed and we were able to measure the progress made over nearly four months. This deliverable has many nuances. It shows the plurality of our expression. It is in a way a “rainbow of opinions” that we pour into the public debate. The findings and proposals seem to me to be clearly stated, both on improving end-of-life support and on the possible opening of active assistance in dying, in response to the Prime Minister’s question: “Is the end-of-life support framework adapted to the different situations encountered or should any changes be introduced?”

On reflection, perhaps we have insufficiently grasped the legal dimension and the economic issues. I am thinking, in particular, of the question of insurance cover for a person who would tomorrow have recourse to active assistance in dying. This is a point that we have not addressed.

The session ended with several votes relating to active assistance in dying: form (assisted suicide, euthanasia), conditions of access and proposed models. Everyone was able to assign a score from 1 to 5 to each of the 19 “end-of-life pathways” proposed. This made it possible to quantitatively measure all the nuances that emerge on active assistance in dying. It is now up to the decision-makers to seize it to outline the most appropriate “French model”.

As the last session of the convention opens this weekend, what can we learn from these four months? I would say the density of our exchanges. Collectively, we were keen to understand the subject in all its complexity with a concern for rigor and respect for each opinion. We tried to cross our glances, our experiments, our ideas. The evidence of some has been challenged by the doubts of others. The certainties of the day were impacted by the questions of the next day.

At the end of this convention, I forged the conviction that reflection on this subject is inexhaustible. It is not possible to have answers to all the questions and it is necessary to accept that uncertainties remain. Our agreement contributes – modestly – its part to the reflection which remains more open than ever. “.

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