Despite MPs’ activism, government pushes back end-of-life debate



Olivier Véran at the Assembly. – NICOLAS MESSYASZ / SIPA

  • The National Assembly examines Thursday a text creating a right to euthanasia for people suffering from an incurable pathology.
  • A handful of LR elected representatives tabled 2,300 amendments, which could prevent a vote on the text, yet validated in committee.
  • The government has shown little inclination to legislate on the end of life, and recalls that this is not a promise from Emmanuel Macron.

Will the executive avoid a debate on the end of life? The National Assembly examines Thursday a text allowing euthanasia for people suffering from an incurable pathology. The bill, adopted last week in the Social Affairs Committee, aims to give a right to “a free and chosen end of life”, five years after the Claeys-Leonetti law, which authorizes deep and continuous sedation up to ‘to death, but without active euthanasia.

If the text has the support of many elected officials, it risks being blocked by the 3,000 or so amendments tabled. A prospect that could suit the government, reluctant to tackle this delicate subject, a few months before the presidential election.

“The company is ready to move forward”

Olivier Falorni’s bill, tabled within the framework of the parliamentary “niche” of the opposition group Libertés et Territoires, is supported by elected officials from all political stripes, in particular the LREM president of the Law Commission, Yaël Braun-Pivet, and the presidents of four parliamentary groups, Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI), Valérie Rabault (PS), Olivier Becht (Agir) and Bertrand Pancher (Freedoms and territories).

“This text, which is the merger of various bills, is supported by elected officials from all political parties except the extreme right”, greets the LREM deputy Jean-Louis Touraine, very active on the subject. “This shows that society is ready to move forward and it is not a bunch of obstructing deputies who should prevent us from doing so. The elected representative of the Rhône targets the 2,300 amendments tabled by a handful of LR deputies, opposed to the text. In a tribune at JDD, 272 parliamentarians of all stripes also rose up on Sunday against what they consider to be parliamentary obstruction. Because the time of parliamentary “niches” is limited: the debates cannot go beyond midnight, which risks preventing the final vote.

A way out for the government?

On the government side, we are in no hurry to legislate. “We are aware of the maturity of the subject in public opinion and in Parliament, but also of the dizzying questions it poses”, underlines the entourage of Olivier Véran, the Minister of Health, who should speak Thursday in the hemicycle. “These questions so crucial, which touch on the intimate, cannot be raised over the leg. They deserve a broader debate, which must also involve society, with the opinion of the National Consultative Ethics Commission, and a dedicated time, which we do not necessarily have ”, adds one.

But if it is not possible to vote, will the government put the subject on the agenda for the next few months, as demanded by its supporters? Matignon replies that this is not a promise from Emmanuel Macron. “There is no more room on the parliamentary agenda. It is normal to prioritize the debates already launched, and the commitments of the presidential program, such as opening up to assisted reproduction for all. “

A way of pushing back the deadline, especially since the subject divides the majority, as moreover a good part of the parliamentary groups. Several marchers thus indicated that they would not vote for the text on Thursday in the event of a vote, like Aurore Bergé. “Open what is a major legal, philosophical, anthropological break [qui viserait à donner] by law, the right for someone to kill another […], it is not with a few hours of debate that we can close this question ”, estimated the deputy president of the LREM group on France Info.





Source link