if the Citizens’ Convention wishes to go further in active assistance in dying, the debate is not politically settled

This time, unlike the Citizens’ Climate Convention, Emmanuel Macron did not undertake to take up “as is” in the law the positions and proposals of the participants. The citizens of the end-of-life convention, meeting since the end of December, want to go further than the so-called “Claeys and Leonetti” law. They say “yes” to 84%. This text currently authorizes only deep and continuous sedation. In detail, 75% of conventioneers are for assisted suicide and 66% for euthanasia. The end-of-life debate is not limited to these figures and has only just begun.

If these figures suggest that the debate is settled, we are still far from it. There is consensus on the necessary evolution of the law. But this is not the case with the modalities of this evolution. Thus, the conventioneers are mainly in favor of minors having access either to assisted dying or to euthanasia. But more than a quarter said no or failed to form an opinion after thinking about it for dozens of hours.

Emmanuel Macron’s hesitations

The majority of conventioneers also want to set conditions. Several questions remain unanswered: is it necessary that the vital prognosis in the short or medium term be engaged when one suffers from unbearable pain because of an incurable disease? In the case of euthanasia, must one still be able to express a free and enlightened will? Nearly one in three reserves judgment. This reveals all the difficulty in forging an intimate conviction but also all the complexity of the political decision.

The citizens’ convention must issue a more complete opinion in mid-March. The pitfall for Emmanuel Macron is to suggest that the intimate conviction of a single person justifies a turning point. The President of the Republic dithered on this subject. If he seemed ostensibly for an evolution of the law, Emmanuel Macron later admitted to being intimidated by the question. On the modalities of this change of text, a referendum was mentioned for a time, this is no longer relevant to this day. In parallel with the citizens’ convention, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, the Minister in charge of Health Professions organized working groups, toured Europe to understand how our neighbors have changed, or not, their own legislation.

The Head of State will have to decide to engage his government in an evolution of French law. Still, in the end, Parliament will have to decide. The political debate presenting a risk: becoming a politician and reactivating a partisan divide.