French lawmakers voted to allow some people the right to help with death at the final stage of terminal illness.
The Parliament has approved 305 votes in 199 for the bill supported by President Emmanuel Macron. This goes to the Senate Senate before a second reading in Parliament. Advocates hope to become law by 2027.
France will become the eighth country in the European Union and grant a version of death aid.
As framed now, the French version is less tolerant than the Netherlands and neighboring Belgium, and the first country in Europe died dying.
Another bill creating rights to palliative care has not been opposed. It is estimated that 48% of French patients who need palliative care will not get it.
Much of the two-week discussion in Congress focused on the conditions in which patients could qualify for assistance in death.
The approved prescription is “people suffered by serious, incurable illnesses that are “life-threatening and in their progressive or terminal stages” and are “constant physical or psychological distress.”
The patient must be able to “freely reveal his intentions.” They need to wait 48 hours and then check it.
Once approved, lethal doses are self-controlled by the patient. Or by a medical assistant if the patient is not capable.
The approval is provided by the physician, but it is provided only after consultation with a peer.
Parliamentary lawmakers were allowed to vote freely on the bill. This reflects how differences in opinion on the issue deny the party’s boundaries. Roughly, the measure was backed by the center, opposed to the left and against the right.
Conservative critics – reflecting the views of the once dominant Catholic Church – are concerned that the bill’s definition is too broad, paving the way for helping patients die for years of life.
Like other countries where ethical issues are hotly debated, opponents fear that vulnerable elderly people can feel under pressure to die to remove the burden from their families.
At a demonstration against a bill outside the National Assembly on Saturday, one of the 44-year-old women suffering from Parkinson’s disease said it was like a “pistol remaining on my bedside table.”
Some leftists wanted to strengthen government bills by expanding access to deaths of aid to minors, non-French citizens and patients who leave instructions before entering coma.
Under the bill, medical staff opposed to helping them die are not obligated to do so. However, attempting to block death-related aid is a crime punishable in a two-year prison.
Conservatives wanted to create another crime of incitement to help them die. However, this amendment was rejected by lawmakers.
Premier François Bailloux, who practices Catholicism, said he would abstain if he voted for the bill. He was not an MP, so there were no votes.
