This is a disappointment for supporters of legal assistance in dying for certain people at the end of their lives. François Bayrou wishes to address this divisive subject separately from that of palliative care, thus acceding to a request from opponents of euthanasia and assisted suicide. The Prime Minister actually wishes to split the end-of-life bill into two, we learned on Tuesday from those around him. Result: there would no longer be a single text, but a law dedicated to palliative care and another dedicated to assistance in dying.
A week ago, the head of government simply referred the end of life to the “power of initiative” of Parliament. If the choice of two texts may appear simple, it actually marks an important development in the history – already several years long – of the bill initially supposed to bring about the major societal reform of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency. And already arouses the disapproval of the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet – a Macronist from the start – who said Tuesday evening that she was “opposed” to this “split”. “I am waiting for the government and the Prime Minister to re-inscribe this text as a whole in the National Assembly” and this from “today”, she said on France 5. And this is not her first clash with François Bayrou, since Yaël Braun-Pivet had already been annoyed to see him go to Pau rather than Mayotte.
The end of life was first the subject of a citizens’ convention, then long work by several governments so that a bill finally reached the National Assembly in early 2024. It provided for the development of palliative care but also the legalization, under important conditions, of “active assistance in dying” – specifically assisted suicide or, in certain cases, euthanasia. The dissolution of summer 2024 has it stopped dead before a first solemn vote, while divisions remain sharp. Supporters of assisted dying see it as an essential issue of freedom and dignity. His opponents, including many religious people and certain caregivers, fear an ethically dangerous development.
“A question of conscience”
A practicing Catholic, François Bayrou has for years been opposed to any end-of-life legislation, wishing instead for an improvement to the Claeys-Leonetti law. By opting for two texts, François Bayrou responds to a request from the second camp and takes up part of the arguments of the skeptics of assisted dying. This “is a question of conscience” when palliative care is “a duty of society towards those who are going through this ordeal”, thus justified the entourage of the tenant of Matignon.
This position is consistent with that of Sfap, an organization which speaks for palliative care and has always been very wary of the idea of legalizing assisted suicide. Two texts, “it’s something we asked for from the start,” its president, Claire Fourcade, told AFP. “The subject of palliative care, which could move forward very quickly, is slowed down by being coupled with a more divisive and complex subject.”
Political interests for François Bayrou
MP Olivier Falorni (related to MoDem), who has long defended legislative developments and had led work on the bill during its passage in the Assembly, expressed his disagreement. Palliative care and assistance in dying are “complementary”, he insisted to AFP. These two subjects must “be addressed now and at the same time, not separately and in a long time”.
Because supporters of assisted dying fear the abandonment of this aspect, even if the Prime Minister’s entourage assures that the two themes will be examined in the “same parliamentary time frame”, without details. “To separate the text is to give in to religious representatives and opponents of euthanasia, to separate and ultimately do nothing?”, asked the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity (ADMD) on the X network. ).
For François Bayrou, the issue is also political. Several members of his government expressed their strong reservations about assisted dying, starting with the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, who clearly said he did not want the text to return to the Assembly. “In a situation where there is no budget for France”, the end of life “is not an emergency”, another minister also argued privately a few weeks ago. But splitting the text in two “could be a way to go faster and be more effective”, defended Renaissance MP Stéphanie Rist, according to which “it was also a strong request from the Senate to move in this direction .” Response in the coming months.