Historic’ French end of life bill introduced to legalise assisted dying and ensure €1billion palliative care funding

The French Government has today (Wednesday 10th April 2024) introduced its end of life care bill, which includes the provision of assisted dying as an option for mentally competent, terminally ill adults. This follows a citizens’ jury, which had overwhelming support for law change. If the Bill passes its stages, assisted dying could become legal in France by 2026, joining more than 30 jurisdictions around the world who have already changed the law. President Emmanuel Macron has voiced his own personal support for reform and nine tenths of French citizens are in favour of law change.

The Bill will also improve palliative care access in France, with President Macron promising an extra €1billion in funding in the next ten years. The French Health Minister, Catherine Vautrin has praised the bill for “making the patient the agent of their decision at all stages”, adding that anyone requesting an assisted death would be given full details of palliative options to make a fully informed decision.

The Bill refers to the practise of “assisted dying” as opposed to “assisted suicide” on the recommendation of suicide prevention campaigners, who distinguish between suicide and the assisted death of a person in the final stages of their life.

The Bill has now been introduced to the Council of Ministers, where it will be scrutinised for the next six weeks. It will then be debated in the National Assembly from the 27th of May and then be voted through to the Senate where it must pass another vote.

Sarah Wootton, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying, said:

“This is a historic day for end-of-life-choice in France. Having listened to the views of its people, the Government will now press ahead with this crucial reform. The next Westminster Government must follow suit.

“The moral values that have historically underpinned this debate no longer speak to how we live and die in the 21st Century, and people are demanding better. Under the UK’s blanket ban on assisted dying, dying people are left to fend for themselves: with hundreds every year forced into taking their own lives and dozens making lonely and secret journeys to Switzerland for compassionate deaths. Medical advances that now enable us to live longer than ever before mean we also die for longer, in more complex and excruciating ways, despite good care. The values and laws that govern how we die must also adapt.

“With France one step closer to law change and debates pressing ahead in Scotland, Jersey and the Isle of Man this year, reform in England and Wales cannot come soon enough. The upcoming General Election will be a defining moment for terminally ill people in this country: will candidates listen to their wishes and support law change, or will they remain out of touch with a growing international trend towards giving citizens true choice at the end of life?”

The introduction of the French Bill comes at a pivotal moment for efforts to legalise assisted dying in the UK, after the first ever Commons inquiry into the issue confirmed in February that these laws are already working well around the world, with robust safeguards, a positive impact on palliative care and no evidence of a ‘slippery slope’ where terminally ill people are given the choice.

In recent months, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have both pledged that they will allow time for the next Parliament to consider assisted dying, should they win the upcoming General Election. A Government petition spearheaded by Dignity in Dying and Dame Esther Rantzen – who revealed in December that she had joined Dignitas following a diagnosis of stage four lung cancer – for a free vote on the issue has gathered more than 190,000 signatures since its launch in January and will be debated in Parliament on April 29th.

There is majority support for a change in the law on assisted dying in every parliamentary constituency in England and Wales, according to the largest and most in-depth public polling ever conducted on the issue. Three-quarters of respondents (75%) said that they would support making it lawful for dying adults to access assisted dying in the UK, with only around one in eight people (14%) stating that they would oppose such a move.

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For more information or interview requests contact: Molly Pike, Media and Campaigns Officer at Dignity in Dying, on 07725433025 or email: molly.pike@dignityindying.org.uk.

Notes to Editor:

Opinium conducted an online survey amongst a nationally and politically representative sample of 10,897 UK Adults between 9th to 22nd February 2024. Three questions were modelled via Multilevel regression with poststratification (MRP) to produce constituency-level estimates on the new constituency boundaries.

The full breakdown of constituency level data can be found here:

• Do you support legalising assisted dying in the UK? 
• Do you want your MP to vote for legalising assisted dying?
• How affordable is the average £15,000 cost of assisted dying in Switzerland?

 

 

IMAGE: By Jarosław Baranowski, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54573629