France to begin national conversation on assisted suicide laws
France will begin a national conversation this week on whether laws about end of life — assisted suicide — should be changed.
The consultative process involves 150 French people, drawn by lot, who will debate the issue in meetings between now and March, and report their conclusions to the government.
The aim is to consider whether or not to change the existing law, known as Claeys-Leonetti, which bans euthanasia and assisted suicide. This law — adopted in 2016 after a first version in 2005 — allows a “deep and continuous sedation until death” for incurable patients with a “short term” vital prognosis and unbearable suffering.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the citizens’ convention at the beginning of the year, after an opinion from the National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE).
The CCNE had, for the first time, considered that “active assistance in dying” could be envisaged, subject to “strict conditions”.
This nuanced opinion was not issued unanimously by the Committee’s members. However, it marks an unprecedented development for this body, which until now had always ruled out such a possibility.
It will provide a framework for the discussions of the Citizens’ Convention.
The participants in the convention, who were drawn by lot and weighted according to age and geographical origin, will be trained in the debate on the end of life and will meet with personalities such as Alain Claeys and Jean Leonetti.
They will also study the legislation of other countries, some of which, such as Belgium and Switzerland, have legalised euthanasia to varying degrees.
