End-of-life Bill: The Government Has Lost Control of its Own Fire-fight

PRESS RELEASE – 17^th May 2024

End of life bill: The Government has lost control of its own fire-fight

Following examination of the end-of-life bill by the French National Assembly Special Commission, the safeguards intended to ensure a “balanced” text are already splitting apart.

During his audition, the Alliance VITA spokesman pointed out the vagueness surrounding the access conditions for administered death, leaving them indefinable and unverifiable. Some of them have already disintegrated since the notion of threatened life expectancy has been deleted and replaced by the notion of a condition “in an advanced or terminal phase”. There is therefore no longer any need to be at the end of life! In relation to the promises by the Government to guarantee strict criteria and procedures, one can see how it is in fact quite powerless to preserve a framework. By opening the legislative process, the lid has been raised from a Pandora’s box.

The discussions have also shown that the bill will be unable to guarantee nationwide access to palliative care and for all the French population at the same time as the possible introduction of assisted suicide and euthanasia. Members of parliament from all parties are concerned about the risk that people will resort to assisted dying through lack of accompaniment care.

Against this bill to lift the prohibition on killing which constitutes a serious assault on fraternity, Alliance VITA is organising a demonstration on 27^th May in Paris and several other towns all over France.