the Elysée denies planning two separate bills

The President of the Republic agreed at the end of December “to take the time” on this sensitive subject.

In a first version of this article, franceinfo indicated that Emmanuel Macron was planning two separate pieces of legislation on the end of life, one on palliative care and the other on active assistance in dying, on the basis of testimony of two participants in the ceremony of greetings to religious authorities on Monday. But the Elysée denied this information at the end of the day on Tuesday.

During a ceremony of greetings to religious authorities on Monday, January 8, Emmanuel Macron clarified to religious leaders that there will be two separate bills on the subject of the end of life in January and in the spring, we learned on Tuesday, 9 January francenfo with several participants, confirming information from La Croix [article payant]. But this information was denied by the Elysée in the afternoon.

One of the participants thus affirmed that the Head of State was planning a text relating to “on the development of a culture of palliative care” for the month of January and another text “in the spring, on active assistance in dying for very specific situations”.

In its final report, published at the beginning of April 2023 after three months of debate, the Citizens’ Convention on the end of life declared itself in favor of active assistance in dying, but under conditions. In August, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, at the time Minister Delegate in charge of Territorial Organization and Health Professions, confirmed on franceinfo the government’s will “to open active assistance in dying“, referring to “three parts” to know “palliative care, personal rights, and active assistance in dying”.

The government had initially announced a single law for the end of summer 2023, before postponing it several times. During an interview on France 5 on December 20, Emmanuel Macron assumed “to take the time” on this sensitive subject.