France to vote on euthanasia later this year
French President François Hollande wants a national debate on euthanasia so that parliament can vote on it before the end of the year.
French President François Hollande wants a national debate on euthanasia so that parliament can vote on it before the end of the year.
Legal euthanasia was one of his campaign promises and he is pushing hard for it, despite advice from the national ethics committee. The Comité National d’Ethique (CCNE), by a majority of one, decided that euthanasia was too dangerous for society because vulnerable people could be victimised.
It expressed alarm at the situation in nearby Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, where euthanasia is legal. “These countries legalised euthanasia for patients in the terminal stage who are able to decide for themselves, but in practice the target group has progressively grown broader and been extended to vulnerable groups in society,” the CCNE’s report (PDF) said.
But Hollande insists. The CCNE wants a debate, he said, so France will have a debate and then Parliament will vote.
Michael Cook
Creative commons
euthanasia
France
- Queensland legalises ‘assisted dying’ - September 19, 2021
- Is abortion a global public health emergency? - April 11, 2021
- Dutch doctors cleared to euthanise dementia patients who have advance directives - November 22, 2020
More Stories
Euthanasia makes clean sweep of Australian states
The Australian state of New South Wales legalised euthanasia and assisted suicide last week. Members of the Upper House supported...
Is eco-anxiety grounds for euthanasia?
Vancouver man Howard Breen, 68, has applied for Medical Aid in Dying, Canada’s pathway to legal euthanasia. He is not...
Former Archbishop of Canterbury promotes euthanasia in Australia
The former Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, has sent a message to the Parliament of the Australian state of...
Is it futile to defend the Texas ‘futile care’ law?
In October 2019, an ethics committee at Cook Children's Medical Center, in Fort Worth, Texas, voted unanimously to end treatment...
Longevity does not always work in your favour in the UK
“Dying patients living longer than expected lose NHS funds” was the BBC headline. The NHS is the UK’s government health...
House of Lords votes down another assisted dying proposal
This week the House of Lords in the UK voted down an unusual amendment to a Health and Care Bill...