Thirty seconds of solemn silence to vote and thunderous applause to greet the result of the vote. Sunday April 2, at 10:40 a.m., 176 of the 184 participants in the Citizens’ Convention on the end of life adopted by 162 votes for, 6 against and 8 abstentions the final document which must be presented, as of Monday April 3, to the president of the Republic during a reception organized in the morning at the Élysée.
Forgotten the doubts of the beginning, when some wondered about their usefulness and about what the government would do with their work? Coming out of the hemicycle of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Cese) which organized this convention, Julian, 36, a civil servant in Loire-Atlantique, does not hide his pride: “We have produced a quality reflection that will feed the public debate whatever happens. I do not expect Emmanuel Macron to make a decision for tomorrow, but first that he listen to this citizen voice. »
Monday, April 3, citizens received at the Élysée
By inviting members of the Convention to the Élysée Palace on the eve of an important trip to China, the Head of State wants to show that he is regaining control of this debate which he himself launched. But to decide what?
To mature his reflection, the Head of State does not lack elements. First of all, there is Opinion 139 published on September 13, 2022 by the National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE). Then come the conclusions of the parliamentary mission to assess the Claeys-Leonetti law of 2016 which sets the current legal framework: they were made public on Wednesday March 29 by its president Olivier Falorni, MoDem deputy for Charente-Maritime and declared supporter of euthanasia. The “recommendations” of the Citizens’ Convention are now added.
So many reports that all go, more or less, in the same direction, first emphasizing the absolute need to develop palliative care worthy of the name in the country, then proposing to move towards “active assistance in dying” , an expression designating both assisted suicide and/or euthanasia.
Palliative care: towards a “ten-year strategy”
The Head of State also has “summary sheets” provided by the two ministers responsible for leading the national debate: the Minister for Health, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, and Olivier Véran, in charge of “democratic renewal”.
The two have multiplied trips abroad – to Belgium, Switzerland, the United States, Spain – to better understand the systems in place in these countries which have authorized euthanasia or assisted suicide. They also consulted extensively with the “end-of-life contact groups” set up with parliamentarians, caregivers and user associations. Agnès Firmin Le Bodo also asked her floor services about what a “ten-year strategy” palliative care, completing the fifth development plan launched for the 2021-2024 period.
Everything is now suspended on the presidential word. “The Minister pleaded for us to follow the opinion of the convention 100%. But will it go through a bill, an initiative in Parliament, a referendum? To be honest, we don’t have any information on how the sequel is going to be.” recognizes Olivier Véran’s firm.
Euthanasia: the refusal of the medical world
In the meantime, each side is preparing its arguments for the battle to come. Jonathan Denis, president of the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity (ADMD), acknowledges that “the convention did a superb job” but believe that we have “wasted enough time” to recognize “the right to choose”. “If the president does not take the initiative, it will be up to parliamentarians to raise the subject. I think there is a majority in favor of the Assembly. The obstacle is the Senate. We have already started a series of meetings to overcome it. We hope for a law by the end of the year. Otherwise, it would be a democratic failure,” he believes.
At the French Society for Support and Palliative Care (Sfap), we are also preparing the rest by increasing contacts with parliamentarians to make the refusal of a majority of the medical world heard. “Legalizing medically assisted death would be tantamount to subverting the notion of care”, recalls a press release signed on Sunday April 2 by organizations representing 800,000 caregivers, or two thirds of the workforce. The day before, the National Order of Physicians had reiterated its requirements in the event that the law changed, claiming a conscience clause and reaffirming that a “doctor cannot deliberately cause death”.
“Many elected officials discover the complexity of the subject and are sensitive to the fact that a new law would add further to the current hospital crisis”, emphasizes Dr. Claire Fourcade, president of Sfap.
Thibault Bazin, deputy Les Républicains of Meurthe-et-Moselle, watches this agitation with a touch of annoyance. “In the field, the end of life is not the primary concern of the French. The president can always hope to divert attention by launching a euthanasia bill, but it can also backfire and further divide the country,” he warns.
Emmanuel Macron’s ethical “doubts”
A fine connoisseur of parliamentary mysteries, MP Liot from Marne Charles de Courson, member of the “parliamentary contact group”, does not believe in the success of a bill either. “Several were tabled during the last term. All have been discarded. It is hard to see how it would be otherwise today, especially since the position of the elected representatives of the presidential majority on the subject is far from clear. he points out.
Prisca Thevenot, MP for Hauts-de-Seine and spokesperson for Renaissance, acknowledges that her position is not fixed: “The debate made it possible to put everything on the table, without taboo, and that’s very good. But be careful not to want to go too fast, at the risk of tripping. »
Will the president lift this reservation or share it? Very clever one who could guess the intentions of Emmanuel Macron, as his statements have fluctuated in recent months. A volunteer during the presidential campaign, he was more reserved in October, on his return from a visit to the pope, and spoke of his ” doubts ” on ethical issues in March on the occasion of CCNE’s 40th anniversary.
One of the guests at a dinner on the end of life organized on March 9 at the Élysée confided to The cross that the Head of State would have shown “a lot of caution” and D’“listening to complexity”… without letting anything know what he would do. At the Élysée, we invite you to wait for the expected speech on Monday April 3, at 11 a.m. In response to the five-minute presentation that citizens Marianne T. and Jean-Michel P. will have to make of the work of their convention, the president should then “tracing the paths of act 2” end of life debate.
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End of life: twenty years of debate and four laws
1999a law establishing palliative care for all end-of-life patients.
2002Kouchner law on the rights of patients, in particular that of being able to consent to or refuse treatment.
2005Leonetti law prohibiting therapeutic relentlessness and opening the possibility for the patient to write advance directives and to appoint a trusted person in case he can no longer express his wishes directly.
2016Claeys-Leonetti law establishing a “deep and continuous sedation until death” for incurable patients whose vital prognosis is committed in the short term.
2021a bill to authorize euthanasia, presented by the deputy Olivier Falorni, is blocked in extremis by the amendments of the elected Republicans.
2022campaigning for a second term, Emmanuel Macron is in favor of a “citizens’ agreement” responsible for examining whether or not the law should be changed.