On 1 March, 156 MPs[1], mainly from the majority party, published a forum in Le Monde, on the initiative of Jean-Louis Touraine, LRM MP and former member of the socialist party, calling for the immediate adoption of new end-of-life legislation. They believe that “it is right to give the terminally ill power over their own bodies and, primarily, their own destiny”.
However, in order to be successful, this draft law has to be signed and sealed by the President of the Republic who, to date, has “never clarified his stance on the subject”. In an interview in La Croix, the Head of State declared that he was “in favour of moving the debate forward,” but pointed out that he “would not be in any rush to legislate”. He went on to add, “We must escape the type of political dogma where policies could decide everything and rule on ethical, social and sometimes anthropological issues. The role of a President of the Republic is to provide a framework for debates on these subjects and to ensure that society matures”. “It’s also true to say that whilst capitalism is in the process of thrashing out its inability to think out its own social or environmental regulations, we will flounder with the advance of these technologies if we do not consider the ethical limitations. France has a major role to play and I intend to invest in it.”
The signatories who are impatient to see change believe that “the end-of-life issue could be considered separately from the draft bill agenda on the revision of bioethics laws”, and might be the subject of a private members’ bill examined within a parliamentary niche. They plan to “legislate in this direction in 2018”.
[1] Initial signatories: Jean-Louis Touraine, (LRM) MP for the Rhône region, Vice-President of the Committee on Social Affairs; Olivier Falorni, MP (non-affiliated – Radical) from Charente-Maritime; Brigitte Bourguignon, (LRM) MP for the Pas-de-Calais region, President of the Committee on Social Affairs; Yaël Braun-Pivet, (LRM) MP for Yvelines, President of the Legal Commission; Barbara Pompili, (LRM) MP for the Somme region, President of the Committee for Sustainable Development and Regional Planning; Olivier Faure, (New Left) MP for Seine-et-Marne, President of the New Left Group; Carole Bureau-Bonnard, (LRM) MP for Oise, Vice-President of the National Assembly; Yves Jégo, MP (UDI/Agir/Independent) for Seine-et-Marne, Vice-President of the National Assembly; Laurianne Rossi, (LRM) MP for Hauts-de-Seine, Quaester; Manuel Valls, (LRM) MP for Essonne, former Prime Minister.
Le Monde, François Béguin et Manon Rescan (28/02/2018) ; Jean-Yves Nay (28/02/2018)