“It is not possible for us to reach any form of agreement around these situations,” believes a member of the National Ethics Advisory Committee

Guest, Monday, on franceinfo, Régis Aubry reacts to Emmanuel Macron’s announcements on a bill for “assisted dying.”

“It is not possible for us to reach any form of agreement around these situations,” affirmed, Monday March 11, on franceinfo Professor Régis Aubry, doctor at Besançon University Hospital and member of the National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE), questioned about the end of life. After Emmanuel Macron’s announcement of a bill in April for a “assisted dying” very supervised, the Association for the right to die with dignity (ADMD) speaks of a “bare minimum”.

The President of the Republic made this announcement in an interview with Libération and La Croix. He “said there were 67 million different opinions on this issue [la fin de vie]It’s true”, recalls Professor Régis Aubry. For him, “you have to keep your reason”. With this bill, “we are in a probably necessary evolution, both in the development of palliative care and in the taking into account of rare, exceptional situations where the request for active assistance in dying must be able to be heard.”

“A somewhat dangerous form of euphemization”

“We have not said it enough, it seems to me, but the corollary of this evolution of the law is an unprecedented increase in resources for the development of palliative care,” he emphasizes. In the same bill, “a billion euros more” over ten years are planned for this care, indicated the head of state. “This was the condition that seemed essential to us, at CCNE, so that evolving law could maintain an ethical foundation.“, points out Professor Régis Aubry.

Emmanuel Macron refuses to use the terms “assisted suicide” And “euthanasia” to qualify the“assisted dying” that he suggests. “I think there is a form of euphemization that I personally find a little dangerous. I think we should call a spade a spade”reacts the member of the National Consultative Ethics Committee.

For him, “France is paving the way, as the CCNE had expressed it, to assisted suicide with, in even more exceptional situations, when the patient is able to express a request which corresponds to his wishes, but he would not be able to perform the gesture, a possibility of assistance.”