The draft bill on the end of life, which should open access to active assistance in dying in France, is on his desk. But Emmanuel Macron, during his tête-à-tête with Pope Francis, Saturday September 23, in Marseille, “did not enter, according to the Elysée, in the detail of the content of the text. The head of state even showed himself so little talkative that the sovereign pontiff indicated to the press that they had not “did not talk about the theme” together… Emmanuel Macron stuck to the presentation of the ” methodology “, specifies those around him, and on the calendar.
The bill is “under construction”, “not yet finalized” and should not be disclosed before ” next weeks “, let it be known the Elysée, as rumors buzzed of a presentation after the Pope’s visit at the end of September.
The Pope, conversely, was not asked to give his opinion: “We don’t play with life! We don’t play with life, neither at the beginning nor at the end”he confided on the plane taking him back to Rome. “Today, let us be attentive to ideological colonizations which go against human life. Otherwise, he insisted, it will end with this policy of no pain” which he described as“humanist euthanasia”. “Who listens to the groans of isolated elderly people who, instead of being valued, are herded into the falsely dignified perspective of a sweet death, in reality saltier than the waters of the sea? »Francis asked on Saturday morning, in a speech given to the President of the Republic.
No one knows if Emmanuel Macron is sensitive to the words of the Holy Father, but without even these pontifical objurgations – the previous one dates back to October 2022, during the visit of the Head of State to the Vatican – the bill, of which he would like to be the societal marker of his last five-year term, torments him.
Personal questions and political considerations complicate his final decisions, which are intended to be meticulous but have become laborious. ” President [est] a little reserved [sur le sujet]confided a minister, in mid-September, to Agence France-Presse. When he has reservations about something, he waits as late as possible to decide. »
“Macron is not set. It oscillates,” confirm to World a former minister and MP, familiar with the matter. “I have a personal opinion on the matter which, like that of many French people, can evolve, is evolving, will evolve, who knows? “, declared Emmanuel Macron on April 3. That same day, however, he committed to “build a bill by the end of summer 2023” in front of the members of the citizens’ convention on the end of life, 76% of whom voted in favor of the establishment of active assistance in dying.
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