Examination of the text, which began in April, abruptly stopped with Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly. The future of this “major social law” is now uncertain, hanging on the results of the anticipated legislative elections.
This is one of the many consequences of the dissolution of the National Assembly. The examination of the bill on the end of life, which was scheduled until June 18, was suspended on Sunday June 9. And for good reason: the deputies will only return to the benches of the Palais Bourbon after the early legislative elections scheduled for June 30 and July 7. For the text to be examined again, it will have to be put back on the agenda after the vote by the government. An uncertain hypothesis, which will depend on the composition of the Assembly.
As it currently stands, the bill examined at first reading reserved assistance in dying for people over 18, French or residing in France. They must have suffered from “serious and incurable condition, which is life-threatening, in advanced or terminal phase”the latter causing refractory or unbearable physical or psychological suffering. Those who wished to benefit from it must also be able to express their wishes in a free and informed manner, the deputies having ruled out the possibility of including the use of assisted dying in advance directives. They also removed the possibility given to a third party to administer the lethal substance. If the file is reopened, the new deputies will nevertheless have to look at the entire text, in committee then in the hemicycle, the dissolution canceling the work already carried out.
Among the supporters of the text, the disillusionment is palpable. “The sudden end to what was going to be the great social law of this decade is a great disappointment”thus recognizes Olivier Falorni, the general rapporteur of the bill. “I strongly fear that the exam will be interrupted for a long time”breathes the outgoing deputy MoDem, while the National Rally, mainly hostile to the bill, is the favorite in the early legislative elections. If the far right wins the election, “this will be the end of the law on the end of life, very clearly”. If the majority keeps control of the Assembly, will the text remain among the parliamentary priorities? “Very sincerely, the challenge for the next three weeks is to stand together. Then, the future of the law will depend on the result of the elections”sweeps away the rapporteur, while Charente-Maritime, where he was elected, largely approved the list led by Jordan Bardella.
“All these weeks of hearings, of debates in the Assembly, reduced to nothing! It’s absolute violence”also laments Jean-Luc Roméro-Michel, honorary president of the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity (ADMD).
“This is one of the biggest blows we have experienced, after having had the crazy hope of seeing this law succeed, even if it is not the one we would have liked.”
Jean-Luc Roméro-Michel, honorary president of the Association for the Right to Die with Dignityat franceinfo
“Didn’t the question of the end of life deserve to wait until we finish examining this text? [pour dissoudre l’Assemblée] ?” asks for her part the outgoing environmentalist MP Sandra Regol, disappointed to see the text “thrown in the trash.” “There is a lot of disappointment”adds Martial Breton, one of the participants in the Citizens’ Convention on the end of life, contacted by AFP.
Patients, directly affected by this bill, have also seen their hopes swept away. “I am very sorry to see this project postponed”, says Martine, whose breast cancer spread to the rest of her body in January, and who had confided to franceinfo her hope of seeing the text adopted. She adds : “This political decision is very brutal and takes no account of the common good.” For Chris, who has been suffering from pancreatic cancer for three years, the news is “difficult to live”. Aged 80, the woman who began her 78th course of chemotherapy on Monday did not want to resort to assisted dying: “VS“It’s my personal choice, but I want others to be able to do what they want.” In the legislative elections, she will be attentive to the positions of the candidates in her Rhône constituency on this subject.
“I would have a hard time voting for someone opposed to the bill as it was put forward.”
Chris, pancreatic cancer patientat franceinfo
In the medical profession, this turnaround is also a hard blow. “For years we have been told that the law on the end of life is not the right time. (…) For once, we had a half-open door. While the law was about to succeed, unfortunately, this dissolution of the Assembly blocks the process”, regretted Denis Labayle, doctor and co-president of the Le Choix association, on France Inter. From franceinfo, François Blot, resuscitation doctor at the Gustave-Roussy Institute, fears the scenario of “worse”, that’s to say “a change of Prime Minister and the text put in a drawer”. But resuming parliamentary scrutiny from scratch would also be a “terrible heartbreak” for some patients, who lack time. “There are patients at the end of their lives who hoped to benefit in the months to come”of the legalization of assisted dying, underlines François Blot.
On the side of those who fight the text, the “satisfaction” is appropriate. “I don’t imagine it will be rescheduled right away”says Patrick Hetzel, the outgoing Republican deputy, opposed like the majority of his political family to assisted dying. “And with the necessary parliamentary shuttles on a text like this one”even if he finally succeeds in finding a majority, it will not be before “2026 or more”. “I feel a form of relief,” agrees Claire Fourcade, vice-president of the French Society for Support and Palliative Care, who has long opposed euthanasia. “This text went in a direction that did not seem to us to be the right one”she believes. The latter intends to use the time provided by the legislative elections to continue “to address all those who want to know more about our opposition to assisted dying”.
On the other hand, the doctor hopes that “the question of the development of palliative care” will not remain a dead letter, considering that a “consensus” was reached. Before the suspension of the debates, the deputies in fact devoted, against the advice of the government, a “enforceable right” palliative care, while one in two people do not have access to it today. A wish shared by Patrick Hetzel:
“Palliative care and the issue of dependency seem to me to be a priority over assistance in dying.”
Patrick Hetzel, Republican deputy opposed to the billat franceinfo
For other opponents of the bill, the additional delay does not equate to victory. “Pandora’s box is open, we must go to the end of the discussion now”estimates François Braun, former Minister of Health, who did not hide his reservations about assisted dying when he was still in government. “Postponing the discussion again would amount to reopening these debates once again.”