On Monday, the French National Assembly – the country’s lower house – began a third reading of a bill on assisted suicide after it was previously rejected twice by the French Senate.
There have been over 1,800 amendments tabled to the text that started making its way through parliament over two years ago. The French National Assembly has given two positive readings of the bill but it has been rejected twice by the Senate.
The first order of business will likely deal with three amendments that were introduced to the bill by the social affairs committee, all of which carry some degree of controversy.
Danielle Simonnet, a left-wing French politician, has proposed an amendment accepted by the committee that would allow patients to freely choose between administering the lethal substance themselves or having a healthcare professional assist them.
If this amendment were to stand, which is not a given as it contradicts other parts of the bill, there is a chance it would cause more centrist members of parliament to vote against the bill. Previously healthcare professionals were only to assist the administration of the lethal substance in cases where the patient is physically incapable of doing it themselves.
There is also an amendment proposed which would see deaths by assisted suicide recorded as “natural deaths.”
Additionally, there are some fears that there could be an attempt to reinstate a controversial amendment that was removed, which wanted to provide criminal penalties for any attempt to obstruct assisted suicide.
The bill’s opponents have also tried to introduce stricter regulatory measures, among them exclusion or regulation of access to assisted suicide for those under guardianship or suffering from intellectual disabilities or psychiatric illnesses.
The vote, which is expected to be tight, is scheduled for June 30.
The French bishops
The French bishops have been outspoken in their opposition to the bill.
They have called for a novena of prayer for life, which began Sunday, and ordered a message to be read out in parishes at Masses.
In May, after the Senate’s second rejection of the bill, the bishops put out another statement.
“Forcing the adoption of a text legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide would amount to disregarding the voice of a significant number of parliamentarians,” the statement said.
“Given the gravity of the subject and the diversity of viewpoints expressed, this would be a moral imprudence and a democratic disrespect, with major human, ethical, and social consequences,” it added.
Vincent Jordy, Archbishop of Tours and vice president of the country’s bishops’ conference, recently spoke to Crux Now about the bill, warning that not all things that are considered progress turn out to be.
“Over the past 150 years, we have developed industrial progress that is now turning against humanity and gradually making the earth uninhabitable. What once appeared to be progress is ultimately not as obviously beneficial as it seemed. But it took time to realize this,” he said.
“The same applies to moral life and societal choices. Some choices that may seem like solutions can ultimately produce harmful effects on society. It is therefore important to help our contemporaries exercise discernment so as not to be misled by a kind of ideology of progress,” he added.
He also added that a Christian anthropology compels the Church to advocate for care for the individual all the way through to the end of life.
“Christian anthropology also emphasizes the dimension of relationships between people, aimed at a life of fraternity, which is a constant invitation to accompany others, especially the most vulnerable, until the very end. Fraternity therefore obliges us to care for and accompany people all the way through life’s final stages,” he said.
