French President Emmanuel Macron opened the door on Monday to a possible legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide in France, currently prohibited in the country. Macron has promised “by the end of the summer” a bill to establish “a French end-of-life model”, although he has been cautious about its content. “I have a personal opinion, like all the French, that it can evolve, it evolves and that perhaps it will evolve,” he confessed on the subject of aid to die.
The Head of State received this Monday at the Elysée Palace the members of the Citizens’ Convention for the End of Life, made up of 184 members. The participants, aged between 18 and 87, were selected by lottery and, after three months of debate, presented their conclusions in a final report on Sunday.
The majority of members of the Citizen Convention were in favor of the development of palliative care and the legalization, under conditions, of euthanasia and assisted suicide.
On the other hand, the College of Physicians of France was “unfavorable” on Saturday to the participation of physicians in euthanasia, considering that “a doctor cannot deliberately cause death by administering a lethal product.”
The conclusions of the Citizen Convention will serve as the basis for parliamentary work, although this will not mean that all of its recommendations will be included in the legislation that is finally approved.
The Claeys-Leonetti law of 2016, currently in force in France, prohibits euthanasia (deliberate intervention to end the life of a seriously ill person with no prospect of cure, at their express request) and assisted suicide (giving one’s own serious patient the drugs to end his life). French legislation allows, however, “deep and continuous sedation” until death in terminally ill patients.
On the other hand, Macron considers that the French system of end-of-life accompaniment “is poorly adapted to contemporary requirements.” The Head of State was in favor of guaranteeing “universal access to palliative care” and “renewing the mourning accompaniment policy.”
“The progression in the number of palliative care beds is very slow, the offer is unevenly distributed,” Macron acknowledged, who considered that French doctors and nurses also lack training in this field. To remedy this, the president believes that it is necessary to establish “a ten-year plan for the treatment of pain and the development of palliative care.”