Emmanuel Macron announced that a bill opening “assisted dying” under “strict conditions” would be presented in April to the Council of Ministers, with a view to a first reading in May in the National Assembly. Adult patients, “capable of full and complete discernment”, suffering from an “incurable illness” with “short or medium term vital prognosis” and suffering “refractory” suffering (which cannot be relieved), will be able to ” ask to be able to be helped in order to die”, said the head of state in an interview given to The cross And Release.
In the event of a favorable collegial opinion from the medical team, a lethal substance will be prescribed to the person, which they can administer themselves, or with the help of a third party if they “are not in control”. able to do it physically,” he told the two daily newspapers. Minors and patients suffering from psychiatric or neurodegenerative illnesses which impair discernment, such as Alzheimer’s, will therefore be excluded.
In the event of a favorable collegial opinion from the medical team, a lethal substance will be prescribed to the person, which they can administer themselves, or with the help of a third party if they “are not in control”. able to do it physically. This third party may be “a voluntary person whom they designate when no technical constraint prevents this”, or “the doctor or nurse who accompanies them”, depending on the text which must be transmitted from here ten days at the Council of State. Administration can take place at home, in the nursing home or in a care establishment.
Prescription valid for three months
After the patient’s request, “there is a minimum of two days of waiting to test the solidity of the determination”, explains Emmanuel Macron. “Then, the response must be received within a maximum of fifteen days. In the event of a favorable response, the prescription is valid for three months, during which the patient can, of course, withdraw at any time,” he adds. .
It specifies that in the event of an unfavorable opinion, the patient can “go see another medical team” or “proceed with appeals”. Even if this act can be compared to a form of assisted suicide, the president assures that he wanted to avoid this term, or that of euthanasia, because the “consent” of the patient is essential and “the medical decision has its role to play” , “with precise criteria”.
Ten-year strategy
At the same time, a ten-year strategy to strengthen palliative care will be presented at the end of March, and some of its provisions will be included in the same bill. Over ten years, “that’s a billion euros more that we are going to invest there”, in addition to the 1.6 billion currently devoted to supportive care, he specifies. A palliative care unit will be created in each of the 21 departments that do not have one.
Changing the end-of-life law of 2016, which allows for “deep and continuous sedation” in the event of intolerable suffering when the vital prognosis is engaged in the short term, was a campaign promise from Emmanuel Macron. But after having set up a citizens’ convention on the subject, he postponed his decision several times. “I always approach ethical and bioethical questions with great humility and caution,” the president said in the interview, while believing that “this exemplary democratic path has helped to pacify the debate.”
If he estimates that “thousands of people and families are waiting” for this development, he recognizes that this law cannot be “totally” consensual. To allow time for the parliamentary debate, which promises to be long, there will be no accelerated procedure. Emmanuel Macron finally says he has personally written his own “advance directives” on the care he wishes, or not, to receive at the end of life.