Should euthanasia be authorized in France? A citizens’ convention, which has brought together 184 French people drawn by lot for months, voted overwhelmingly in favor, on Sunday April 2, of the legalization of a “active assistance in dying”. In detail, there are 92% of votes in favor, 3% against and 5% abstention. The aim is to guide the action of the government, which in the fall requested the holding of this convention in a context of resumption of debates on the end of life, at the initiative in particular of Emmanuel Macron. The Head of State has been planning for a long time to modify the current legislation, which does not go so far as to authorize a “active assistance in dying”, that is to say an assisted suicide or an act of euthanasia. Follow our live.
Debates for three months. “Is the end-of-life support framework adapted to the different situations encountered or should any changes be introduced?” This question has animated for three months the debates of the 184 French people drawn by lot, who belong to the citizens’ convention on the end of life. “For a majority of citizens of the Convention, access to active assistance in dying must be open”says his report voted on Sunday, while mentioning important nuances.
A modification of the current law? Emmanuel Macron has been planning for a long time to modify the current legislation, fixed by the Claeys-Léonetti law of 2016. This allows caregivers to put under irreversible sedation patients near death, whose case is hopeless and the suffering, intolerable . But it does not go so far as to authorize a “active assistance in dying”that is to say an assisted suicide or an act of euthanasia.
The final decision rests with Emmanuel Macron. What will the executive do with this work, which, after being criticized for having largely neglected the conclusions of a previous convention on the climate, has several times warned that it will not resume as is those on the end of life? ? In the end, Emmanuel Macron will decide. And his position is a big unknown. Neither the Head of State nor his Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne will be present on Sunday. But Emmanuel Macron will receive the members of the citizens’ convention on Monday.