{"id":308743,"date":"2024-03-16T09:30:04","date_gmt":"2024-03-16T14:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=308743"},"modified":"2024-03-14T21:30:33","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T02:30:33","slug":"macron-sets-sights-legalizing-assisted-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/macron-sets-sights-legalizing-assisted-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"France’s Macron sets his sights on legalizing assisted suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Now that France has <\/span>established<\/span><\/a> a constitutional right to abortion, President Emmanuel Macron has announced his intention to next focus on legalizing assisted suicide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In an interview Monday, Macron said he will present the National Assembly with a bill that would legalize assisted death in May. The proposal would include stipulations that a person must have a serious illness to qualify, be over 18, and fully able to consent to the process. Though these stipulations are said to prevent abuse, as has been seen elsewhere in the world<\/a>, those safeguards are often quickly repealed by those who are pro-assisted death without limitations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When he was elected in 2022, Macron made good on a campaign promise that he would expand assisted death by <\/span>launching<\/span><\/a> a \u201ccitizens\u2019 convention\u201d panel of 184 people to study the potential impact of legalizing assisted suicide. At the conclusion of the study, more than half of the panel participants said they were in favor of assisted death.<\/span><\/p>\n

Macron <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> his proposal will offer \u201ca possible path, in a determined situation, with precise criteria, where the medical decision is playing its role.\u201d He also shied away from using the terms \u201cassisted suicide\u201d or \u201ceuthanasia,\u201d saying he instead preferred \u201caid in dying \u2026 because it\u2019s simple and humane.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Aid in dying\u2019 or ‘assistance in dying’ is a common euphemism meant to detract from what is really happening \u2013 a death that is touted as compassionate, but which is often painful and tragic. In fact, the <\/span>peaceful death that participants are promised is not at all<\/span>\u00a0humane,<\/span><\/a> and they may end up silently<\/span> drowning<\/span><\/a> in their own bodily fluids while unable to move.<\/p>\n

In a post on X, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the full text of the proposal will be presented to the National Assembly on May 27, calling it \u201cprogress for our country.\u201d <\/span>\u201cDeath can no longer be a taboo issue and subject to silence,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

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La mort ne peut pas \u00eatre un sujet tabou, silencieux. Malgr\u00e9 des avanc\u00e9es consid\u00e9rables ces derni\u00e8res ann\u00e9es, certains de nos concitoyens se trouvent parfois impuissants face \u00e0 la maladie et la douleur. Voil\u00e0 pourquoi, conform\u00e9ment \u00e0 son engagement de 2022, le pr\u00e9sident de la\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/8rX6uCR05s<\/a><\/p>\n

— Gabriel Attal (@GabrielAttal) March 11, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n