“I would submit the end of life to a citizens’ convention, Emmanuel Macron announced during the presentation of his program on Thursday March 17. On the basis of the conclusions of this one, I will submit either to the national representation or to the people the choice to go to the end of the path which will be recommended. »
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The announcement is not a surprise, the idea having already been raised in an interview with Provencein September 2021. At the time, an observer confirmed to The cross : “On bioethics, there is a clear desire on the part of Emmanuel Macron to involve civil society in the debate. Because it’s a way to take the temperature and build consensus. » The outgoing President reminded us: on these topics he wishes “move calmly”. “I agree with Emmanuel Macron when he says that the end of life is a good subject for a citizens’ convention, agrees LREM deputy and emergency doctor Thomas Mesnier, who advocates above all for better application of the current law. “A citizens’ convention will make it possible to bring together citizens and professionals, to confront sensitivities. All with the insight of the National Ethics Advisory Committee. »
A peaceful debate…
“We will be there”, warned the Sfap (French Society for support and palliative care) which recalls that the organization of such a consultation, ideal to avoid “simplification” points of view, was precisely among its 15 proposals published on March 14, intended for presidential candidates.
End of life: what the 2022 presidential candidates say
Jonathan Denis, president of the ADMD (Association for the right to die with dignity) is more annoyed. “Of course we will make our voice heard. I agree with Emmanuel Macron on one point: the end of life is a citizen issue. » For the rest, this convention is for him ” a waste of time “. “The French have been consulted on end-of-life for twenty years. Between the commissions, the reports, the polls, public opinion is known: the French are in favor of a chosen end of life. »
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In reality, the consensus on the subject is not so clear cut. “Polls still show an overwhelming majority in favor of euthanasia or assisted suicide. But the questions are always asked in a biased way, leaving a binary choice: suffer or die”recalls Erwan Le Morhedec, author of the book End of life in the Republic. In 2018, however, during the general meetings organized ahead of the revision of the bioethics laws, a “citizen committee” was formed. Two-thirds of its members voted “so that the law can open up the possibility of assisted suicide and euthanasia within end-of-life alternatives”.
… or a folded case?
Would the case be heard? “The president wants a citizens’ convention, I tell him shit! », provokes Jonathan Denis. Still it will be necessary “the conclusions are really taken into account”. That’s not what “the last exercises of this type suggest”notes Erwan Le Morhedec: “The great national debate launched after the yellow vests crisis has been sidestepped. The conclusions of the general states of bioethics have been evaded. Let’s not even talk about the last citizens’ convention on the climate. » At its launch, in October 2019, Emmanuel Macron announced that he would transmit the conclusions “without filter”. A few months later, he took up only part of the recommendations.
→ DEBATE. What remains of the Citizens’ Climate Convention?
« Citizen conventions are just political skills,” agree Jonathan Denis and Erwan Le Morhedec. “It is knowing pertinently which way we are going to go, but without assuming it”, regrets Jonathan Denis. “It’s a way of diluting his responsibility by saying: ‘It’s not me, it’s them’. pings Erwan Le Morhedec. As for possibly submitting the conclusions to a referendum… “Some subjects do not lend themselves well to spontaneous popular opinion, alert Erwan Le Morhedec. In 1981, if a referendum had been proposed on the abolition of the death penalty, we know what the result would have been. »
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“The rules of the game must be precise”
Gilles Le Gendre (LREM), founder of the think tank Le Défi Démocratique
Founder of the think tank The Democratic Challenge
“The rule of the game will have to be extremely precise: do we give citizens the power to decide or do we consult them?” At the root of the frustrations expressed by some members of the Citizens’ Climate Convention, there was the illusion that they would make the law.
If the process ends in a referendum, again, the question will have to be all the more precise so as not to introduce any confusion in the minds of the French between assisted suicide on the one hand, and euthanasia on the other. . » (collected by Antoine Oberdorff)