The Head of State notably announced that he was expecting a bill from the government “by the end of the summer”.
“We are all concerned, in essence, by the end of life.” Following the adoption of the report of the citizens’ convention on this subject, which judge “necessary” to authorize assisted suicide and euthanasia, Emmanuel Macron spoke on Monday, April 3, in front of the 184 participants gathered at the Elysée. Welcoming the seriousness of their work and their commitment, the Head of State mentioned the beginning of a “second time” of the debate. And remembered that a “citizen convention never replaces parliamentary deliberation”. Here’s what to take away from his speech.
A law will be presented “by the end of the summer”
On the issue of active assistance in dying, the President of the Republic was cautious. “I have a personal opinion that can evolve, evolve, perhaps will evolve”he said on this subject, recalling having “as president a responsibility of harmony and a desire for appeasement”. Emmanuel Macron considered that the citizens’ convention covered “a requirement and expectation of a French end-of-life model”. “We will answer it”he assured, announcing a bill on the end of life “by summer 2023”.
“I ask the government, in conjunction with parliamentarians, to carry out a work of co-construction on the basis of this solid reference which is that of the citizens’ convention”continued the Head of State, while setting “red lines” not to cross. Among those, the need to “guarantee the expression of the free and enlightened will”of the “repetition of choice”, “the incurability of refractory, psychic and physical suffering, even the commitment of the vital prognosis”.
“You insist, rightly, that active assistance in dying should never be carried out for a social reason, to respond to the isolation which sometimes can make a patient feel guilty who knows he is condemned”added Emmanuel Macron, who also closed the door to any assistance in dying for minors. “These few red lines seem to me to frame the hypothesis of a French end-of-life model”he further emphasized.
A “ten-year plan” will be put in place
For Emmanuel Macron, the “first pillar of the response” that it intends to contribute to the conclusions of the citizens’ convention and the various works on the subject is “perhaps the least spectacular response” : that of the best application of the existing framework, namely the Claeys-Leonetti law of 2016, that“we need to enforce better”.
Current legislation allows caregivers to irreversibly sedate patients near death, whose suffering is intolerable. But it does not go so far as to authorize assisted suicide or euthanasia.
“Our end-of-life support system remains poorly adapted to contemporary requirements.”
Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republicin front of the 184 participants in the citizens’ convention on the end of life
And the head of state to point a “fundamental inequality” in access to palliative care in the territory.
The President confirmed “a ten-year national plan for the management of pain and the development of palliative care, with the necessary investments”. Without giving figures on the financing of this plan, the Head of State undertook to “develop palliative care management”including in the pediatric sector, “to better integrate them into the hospital in the care pathway, to set a threshold of beds per territory and to continue their development at home”. Something to reassure those who are hostile to active assistance in dying.
Conventions “on other subjects” will be organized
Emmanuel Macron made a strong tribute to the 184 members of this convention on the end of life, citizens drawn by lot who participated for three months in intense debates on the subject. “You have done so with a sincerity that is all the more notable as the experience of your predecessors on the climate convention was less convincing”acknowledged the Head of State.
“You did it with a sincerity that was all the more notable because the experience of your predecessors on the climate convention had been less convincing.”
Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republicin front of the 184 participants in the citizens’ convention on the end of life
“It was the first citizens’ convention, you benefited from everything we learned”he continued, noting a “form of maturity at which we arrive”. The Head of State thus announced that he wanted citizens’ conventions to be now put “implemented on other subjects” companies, without specifying which ones. “I intend, in the coming weeks, to seize the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Cese) on other issues”he only revealed.