2023-11-14 12:00:04
Fourteen months have passed since the launch of the national debate on the end of life by Emmanuel Macron and vagueness persists over the content and timetable of the bill, which was initially to be finalized at the end of the summer. As well as the method. The text will be presented to the council of ministers ” in December “for a first reading in the National Assembly “in January or February”, assured, Wednesday November 8, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, Minister Delegate responsible for territorial organization and health professions. But nothing is less certain. The executive might postpone examination of the text on the grounds that there is already, on the parliamentary agenda, the bill on the inclusion of voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion) in the Constitution.
The delay is mainly due to painful decisions to be made. The head of state is due to meet the ministers concerned soon. A first version of the text, which dates back to the beginning of October and which The world was able to consult, opened the way to a “assisted dying” for adults suffering from an incurable illness, causing refractory suffering and whose vital prognosis does not exceed one year.
This initial version provided that, “on principle”, “the administration of the lethal substance would be carried out by the person himself”. If the patient is not “physically able” to commit suicide, he might ask that a doctor, a nurse or a relative administer the lethal substance. The text thus authorizes the exception of euthanasia, without naming it.
The Head of State might, however, decide to remove it from the bill before transmitting it to the Council of State. Even if it means leaving Parliament “enrich” the government’s copy, as he wrote in a letter addressed on October 25 to Jean-Luc Romero, honorary president of the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity.
“To hold a referendum would be to procrastinate”
Another arbitration delays the finalization of the text. It’s financial this time. What funding can the State provide to improve support for the last days, weeks or months of patients at the end of their lives? The copy of the bill drafted in October provided in particular for the creation of “support houses” for people at the end of their lives who can no longer stay at home. A new type of medico-social establishment which would be financed by Health Insurance. For an amount that remains to be quantified.
There remains one last unknown: the method of adoption of the future law. In a November 5 letter to party leaders, Emmanuel Macron once more suggested the idea of broadening the scope of Article 11 of the Constitution to allow referendums on societal subjects “like the end of life sometimes mentioned”. A project that he has been talking regarding since the 2022 presidential campaign.
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