Ajit Karn
Paris: President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for a law on a “French model on the end of life” within the next few months, suggesting that France could be the next European nation to legalize euthanasia for the terminally ill.
The president instructed the government to develop a new law “by the end of the summer” after a public consultation revealed support for decriminalization.
After confronting months of protests over a massively controversial pension reform, Mr. Macron’s intervention is a welcome change on an issue near to his heart.
Sunday, a committee of 184 French citizens, tasked by the presidency with drafting a non-binding recommendation, voted to legalize “active assistance in dying.”
Mr. Macron met with the committee on Monday and told its members that their input would serve as a “starting point,” but cautioned that the government would not necessarily adopt their recommendations.
“I cannot guarantee that we will adopt any of your conclusions. They will follow their natural course, said the 45-year-old moderate.
Mr. Macron stated that conditions for any legalization should include the need to “guarantee the expression of the enlightened and free will” of a patient and their mental or physical anguish being incurable.
Prior to this, French patients in severe agony who desired to terminate their lives had to travel abroad, including to Belgium.
A 2005 law in France has legalized passive euthanasia, including the withdrawal of artificial life support, as a “right to die.”
A law passed in 2016 permits physicians to combine this with “deep and continuous sedation” for terminally ailing pain patients.
However, active euthanasia, in which physicians administer lethal doses of drugs to terminally ailing patients, is illegal.
Assisted suicide, in which patients receive assistance to voluntarily end their lives, is also prohibited.
– European examples –
The national ethics committee of France stated last year that it was open to terminally ill patients receiving “active” assistance in dying.
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The consultation committee reported on Sunday that three-quarters of its members supported active euthanasia or assisted suicide in certain circumstances.
It was stated that a patient’s capacity for discernment, evaluation, and decision-making was “crucial.”
Its members were unable to concur on guidelines for patients with diminished mental capacity or who were minors.
In the past few decades, an increasing number of nations have permitted assisted suicide for those in need.
On April 1, 2002, the Netherlands became the first nation in the world to legalize both active euthanasia and assisted suicide for patients actively choosing to end “intolerable suffering with no hope for improvement.”
Since then, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Spain have followed suit, while Switzerland, which prohibits euthanasia, has permitted assisted suicide for decades.
With parental consent, the Netherlands and Belgium have decriminalized euthanasia for some terminally ill minors in the Netherlands and Belgium.
– Most French support –
According to a survey of 1,000 French citizens published by the Sunday newspaper Journal du Dimanche, up to 70 percent of French citizens support active aid in dying.
However, only 36% said they would seriously contemplate it if they were suffering from a severe and incurable illness.
Since his election in 2017, critics have frequently accused Macron of a dictatorial, top-down manner of government, a perception that contributed to the “Yellow Vest” demonstrations of 2018 and 2019.
The former investment banker pledged to conduct “broad national consultation” on a variety of issues after reelection last year.
Critics, however, assert that his administration has largely disregarded the outcomes of a previous citizen ideation session on climate change.
In recent weeks, he has confronted escalating public outrage over the divisive pension reform his government pushed through the divided lower house of parliament, fueling unrest throughout the nation.
The National Assembly is also divided over euthanasia and assisted suicide.
The majority of the left and a portion of the center support legalization, but the majority of the right is opposed.
