Parliamentary debate on the end of life: “This is a meeting with all the French,” says Catherine Vautrin

The end-of-life bill opens an “important” debate and, through it, “a meeting with the entire French people,” Catherine Vautrin emphasized on Monday at the opening of a special meeting of the National Assembly committee.

Having mentioned “a certain impatience in our society about this debate,” the Minister of Health emphasized the desire with this text to “respond to the unbearable suffering of several people for whom the current law does not provide for “no sufficient answers”, but also “a search for balance.”

“I have heard concerns that I hope we can address point by point, a strong demand for clarity and precision, an expectation of vigilance regarding the sensitivity of the subject,” she also noted.

“Possible Path”

Insisting on a palliative care development plan involving an additional 1.1 billion euros by 2034 and various measures, Catherine Vautrin once again tried to reassure people about the possibility of assisted dying.

This is “not a copy of foreign legislation, not a model of euthanasia (…) and not a license to commit suicide”, “not a new right and not a new freedom, but a possible path” with “strict conditions”, which she recalled that these are “guarantees of protection for those interested people and caregivers,” she insisted.

And “no one will impose assisted death on anyone,” the minister assured, clarifying that the State Council noted “the clarity and precision of these conditions, which are also close to the conditions of some European countries.”

“A Debate Worth the Challenge”

“Thanks to this debate, there is a meeting with all French people,” since “the end of life touches every family, every person, we touch upon the intimate,” noted Catherine Vautrin.

“We now submit this bill to you for an important parliamentary debate,” the minister concluded, hoping that it will be held “in a spirit of humanity, consideration and respect.”

The president of the special commission, Agnès Firmin Le Baudot, who worked extensively on the project during her time in government, concluded that it would “inevitably be a very beautiful sequence, and (that) we will have a debate worthy of a ‘stake’.” “.

Hoping for a debate marked by “humility, seriousness and respect for all convictions,” rapporteur general Olivier Falorny hoped for “a great parliamentary journey that will take all the necessary time,” but “not unceremoniously” because “many French people are waiting for this law, especially many are sick.”