Opponents vow to continue assisted dying battle in French Senate

Palliative care groups warned the bill passed by the National Assembly included ‘fundamental change in the mission of caregivers’.

Opponents of the assisted dying bill passed by France’s National Assembly on its first reading last week turned their attentions to the Senate as they girded for the uphill battle to stop the reform from becoming law.

The Senate, a more conservative body, should debate the bill after the summer. It is expected to moderate the bill passed by the National Assembly by 305 votes, 199 against and 57 abstentions in a vote on 27 May.

In its first reaction, the bishops conference reiterated its “deep concern” and pledged to “continue to contribute to this major societal debate throughout the ongoing legislative process”.

The Watchers (“les Veilleurs”), a lay protest movement that held a sit-down on the Place Concorde to oppose the vote in the nearby National Assembly, pledged to put similar pressure on the Senate. The Catholic Family Associations group called on senators to reject the bill, saying: “In the face of pain, offering palliative care must remain our only response.”

The French Society for Palliative Care (SFAP) criticised the bill’s “fundamental change in the mission of caregivers” by including an offence of “obstruction” for caregivers who refuse to give death-inducing drugs to willing patients.

Deputies supporting the bill said the normal “conscience clause” for health workers could be invoked in such cases, but even the health minister Yannick Neuder admitted he would prefer stronger safeguards for caregivers.

Speaking the day after the deputies’ vote, Neuder said he was not sure he would have voted for the bill if he were still a deputy and proposed that only caregivers who volunteer to administer fatal drugs to patients be asked to do so.

He said he thought of both the minority who wanted to die and the majority who would prefer palliative care, the basis of the current end-of-life law. The latter option was still not available in France for about half the patients who want it, he said. 

The bill’s future also rests on the twists and turns of French politics. President Emmanuel Macron, who made assisted dying one of his campaign promises for his 2022 re-election campaign, has threatened a nation-wide referendum on the issue if Senate-National Assembly negotiations are bogged down.

The current proposal appears to have majority support, but French referendums have an uncomfortable history of turning against their initiator.

French parliament passes assisted dying bill, but hurdles remain

Dying to live

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