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French Prime Minister François Bayrou on Tuesday announced plans to divide highly sensitive legislation that would legalise assisted dying into two separate parts.
The bill – adressing a politically charged issue in France – was under review by lawmakers last June but was halted following President Emmanuel Macron’s calling of snap elections.
Under Bayrou’s proposal, a revived bill would be split in two: one would legalise assisted dying for patients with short- or medium-term terminal diagnoses.
A second would reform palliative care – end-of-life medical treatment for those with complex or terminal illnesses.
Despite the separation, Bayrou has insisted that both texts should be reviewed “within the same timeframe.”
Opposition is expected from some members of parliament, including those typically associated with Bayrou and Macron’s centrist faction.
National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet, a Macron ally, is among pushing for both issues to be dealt with in a single law as originally planned.
“The end-of-life bill is a constant collateral victim of the parliamentary chaos we are experiencing,” said Olivier Falorni, a lawmaker from Bayrou’s camp who had been the bill’s rapporteur before the legislative work was interrupted in June, speaking to Sud Radio.
Falorni believes that palliative care and assisted dying are, in practice, “complementary pillars”, with the former the “primary response” and the latter the “ultimate recourse”.
The issue deeply divides French society, with supporters seeing euthanasia as a fundamental freedom to defend, while opponents – particularly conservative voters and religious representatives – fear an ethically perilous ‘slippery slope’.
Some healthcare workers worry that the legislation might be too permissive, with unions expressing regret at not being included in its drafting process.
Tuesday’s announcement also stirred reactions among organisations and advocacy groups. Claire Fourcade, president of the French society for palliative care and support, told AFP that separating the issues could expedite necessary progress on palliative care by removing assisted dying from the debate.
Conversely, the Association for the right to die with dignity said the separation amounts to “giving in to religious representatives and opponents of euthanasia.”
A similar law to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales passed in the UK parliament November, following a free vote in which MPs were not whipped to support a party line.
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The post France’s Bayrou to split controversial euthanasia bill appeared first on Energy News Beat.
