French MPs are preparing to vote on a law that would legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide. In the final days of the parliamentary debate, as the proposal’s provisions were reviewed, some of the most outrageous articles were discussed and, unfortunately, many were adopted.
For several days, the voices denouncing the text have been growing. The proposal that MPs are preparing to vote on will make France one of the most permissive countries in this area, alongside countries that have sunk into increasingly serious abuses of ‘assisted dying,’ such as Canada and Belgium.
Based on the model that already exists for abortion, a ‘crime of obstruction’ has been created, which will allow the prosecution of anyone who wishes to prevent or attempt to prevent euthanasia, whether by action, words, or access to information. Deterring a suffering loved one from receiving a lethal injection could earn you up to two years in prison and a €30,000 fine. The penalty sought is even larger than the one for abortion.
Conversely, the symmetrical possibility of a ‘crime of incitement to euthanasia,’ i.e., the act of pushing someone to request death, has not been retained, even though experience in other countries has shown that psychological, family, and financial pressures abound for those who are considering assisted suicide.
The amendment proposed by the right wing, which stated that “the offence is not committed when the comments merely encourage caution, reflection and debate in favour of accompanying and supporting individuals,” was rejected.
The debates gave rise to a fierce semantic battle. Green MP Sandrine Rousseau rejected the term “assisted suicide”—so as not to give the impression that suicide was being encouraged. The word “euthanasia” was avoided as much as possible so as not to “taint the debates.” Macronist MP Charles Sitzenstuhl, who opposed the text, criticized the disingenuous restraint of euthanasia advocates, who consistently refuse to use clear language to describe the deadly reality of what they are promoting. Any excuse was used to obscure that reality, even going so far as to propose classifying death by euthanasia as ‘natural death’ on death certificates. Although the measure was initially approved by MPs, it was later withdrawn.
We witnessed some of the most absurd discussions in the chamber—for example, when conservative MP Patrick Hetzel asked that certain places be excluded from where euthanasia could be performed. What seemed obvious—no euthanasia in nursing homes, for instance—was clearly not obvious to everyone. Health Minister Catherine Vautrin defended allowing euthanasia to be carried out in hotel rooms.
All measures intended to protect vulnerable people from resorting to euthanasia—the mentally ill, the severely disabled, and those with a long-term prognosis—have been rejected. Those who call themselves “eligible”—eligible for death—organised a demonstration in Paris to express their distress and concern about what is being planned.
The promoters of euthanasia in France make no secret of this. Delegate Minister to disabled people Charlotte Parmentier-Lecocq has thus reiterated that euthanasia for disabled people is a right “accessible to all persons with disabilities, as provided for in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”
The way is clear for all kinds of excesses, despite the voices of Cassandras who have spoken out to remind us that the worst is always just around the corner. The liberal atheist and progressive Alain Minc, advisor to many prominent political figures from Sarkozy to Macron, expressed his concerns in Le Figaro:
I am convinced that the right to die that some MPs are trying to pass will soon become a duty to die for the majority. This law is made for Saint-Germain-des-Prés, for educated people who are masters of their own destiny and intellect. People who have no material problems, who read the newspapers and make free personal choices.
Minc accuses the law of widening social inequalities in the future, as the wealthiest will always have the option of choosing between death and managing their suffering.
The final vote on the bill is scheduled for Tuesday, May 27th. In Belgium, when euthanasia was voted in, it was supposed to concern a few hundred cases a year. Today, we are at several thousand a year.