Will assisted suicide ever be authorized in France?
"All options are on the table," government spokesman Olivier Véran said on Friday about a possible change in end-of-life legislation, during a trip to Switzerland, where assisted suicide is tolerated. .
Accompanied by the Minister Delegate for the Health Professions Agnès Firmin le Bodo, and members of the parliamentary working group on the end of life, to meet the nursing staff of the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG), Olivier Véran underlined the importance of work of the citizens' convention on the end of life which is currently looking into the question of a possible change in French law.
Even if the terms “euthanasia” or “assisted suicide” are not explicitly mentioned, the participants will examine the advisability of legalizing one or the other.
In March, they will say whether or not to change the current law, without guarantee of being followed.
“These citizens who come together and who must allow us to have a peaceful debate are pioneers,” noted Olivier Véran.
“We are not making it a partisan fight”
Olivier Véran had already traveled to Belgium to study the legislation in this country, and subsequent trips are under consideration, particularly to Spain.
“We are not making it a political fight in the political sense of the term.
We are not making it a partisan fight, ”added the former Minister of Health, this Friday.
“We do not consider that there is a country that is ahead or behind another, because here we are touching the heart of the intimate, death.
It's very personal and it can refer to a lot of conviction, a lot of fears, a lot of fear, ”he said, however.
Current French law provides for “deep sedation” for the terminally ill and suffering unrelentingly, but does not authorize euthanasia or assisted suicide.
In Switzerland, only those who, “driven by a selfish motive”, lend assistance to someone's suicide are punishable.
"It's a way of making the law which is very different from what we know in France where we start from the principle that everything is prohibited, except what is authorized", commented Olivier Véran.