French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced a new end-of-life bill that opens the pathway towards legalizing assisted suicide in France. In an exclusive interview with La Croix and Libération, Macron detailed the proposed bill which is divided into three parts: legislation on supportive care, rights of patients and caregivers, and, significantly, assisted dying.
The proposed bill sets out three specific conditions for assistance: the patient must be of legal age, excluding terminally ill children; capable of full and complete discernment, thus excluding those with psychiatric or neurodegenerative diseases; and suffering from an incurable illness with a short or medium-term vital prognosis and refractory suffering. A panel of doctors will assess these conditions within fifteen days and the patient can appeal an unfavorable decision.
Once all conditions are met, the patient, if conscious, has the right to commit suicide by self-administering a lethal medication. In certain cases where the patient lacks the capacity, a third party like relatives, caregivers, doctors, or nurses, may conduct the euthanasia.
Alongside these landmark changes, the bill also introduces a ten-year strategy for palliative care and pain support. It further promises to invest an additional 1 billion euros in the coming decade, supplementing the annual 1.6 billion euros currently being allocated towards palliative care in France.
Macron, in his post, highlighted that the definitive Claeys-Leonetti law, which permits sedation to gravely ill patients in specific situations, sometimes fell short of providing a humane situation, forcing some patients to travel abroad for euthanasia. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are already legal in several European countries, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, and Portugal.
In response to the proposed bill, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal asserted that “everyone must have the right to die with dignity.” However, the bill is not without its objectors, including some medical professionals, political opponents, and the Catholic Church. It will be submitted to the National Assembly on May 27.
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