The “Aid in Dying” bill, unveiled by Emmanuel Macron in March, will be presented to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, April 10 and will arrive for the first reading in the National Assembly on May 27. According to the text, aid in dying will strictly benefit individuals who meet five conditions simultaneously: being at least 18 years old; being of French nationality or residing in France; being able to express their will “freely and knowingly”; having declared a serious and incurable illness affecting their short-term or medium-term life prognosis; and presenting physical or psychological suffering that is refractory or intolerable.
The patient will have to make their request to a doctor, who, after obtaining the opinion of a specialist and a caregiver of the person making the request, will make a decision within fifteen days. The text provides that the patient self-administers the lethal substance when capable or, if not, requests assistance from a chosen person. The doctor or nurse present, responsible for verifying the patient’s will, may also perform this task. Some concerns have been raised regarding the ambiguity of the formulation of the law, leaving the interpretation to doctors who may be cautious. Others argue that certain conditions in the law may condemn patients to endure the final stages of diseases with slow but inevitable progression.
One unresolved issue is the issue of advance directives. The current law allows individuals to express their wishes regarding their end-of-life care, but the current bill does not consider these directives if the person is unable to directly communicate their request, even if previously outlined in advance directives that have been updated as the illness progresses. Comparisons have been made to other countries that have legalized euthanasia, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, where specific conditions and procedures vary but provide some insight into how the French law might address similar cases.
Various diseases, such as advanced cancers, poly-pathologies, neurological diseases, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as psychiatric illnesses, have been discussed in relation to the French bill. Each disease poses unique challenges in terms of meeting the criteria outlined in the proposed legislation. The bill aims to provide options for individuals with incurable and advanced stage diseases that result in unbearable suffering, with the goal of offering a humane end to their suffering in cases where the prognosis is limited and the suffering is unbearable.
The bill raises questions about how to define the medium-term prognosis of certain diseases and how to address cases of individuals with specific conditions not clearly covered by the legislation. The impact of the law on different patient populations, including those with neurological conditions or psychiatric illnesses, remains a topic of debate. Overall, the bill seeks to establish legal parameters for aid in dying in France, based on a set of criteria that aim to balance compassion for suffering individuals with ethical and legal considerations.
