French Senate Kills Bad Euthanasia Bill
Dangerous euthanasia legislation in France recently stalled in the country’s Senate, exposing deep divisions over whether doctors should help patients end their lives.
The French Senate rejected a key article of the bill that would have defined conditions for so-called “medical aid in dying.” In an unusual move, both conservatives and socialists voted against the measure, though for different reasons.
Conservative senators reportedly thought the measure made it too easy to obtain lethal drugs. Socialist senators opposed the bill because they felt it didn’t go far enough in expanding access to euthanasia.
The legislation would legalized assisted suicide for any patient in an “advanced phase” of illness—with possible months to live. The bill’s supporters had tried to compromise by limiting access to patients at the very end of life, but even that wasn’t enough to bridge the divide.
The deadlock highlights a fundamental division between those who support the sanctity of life and those who want to expand access to doctor-assisted death.
Euthanasia is already legal in several European countries. Countries like Belgium and the Netherlands have expanded assisted suicide to allow euthanasia for mental illness, depression, and dementia. What starts as a “compassionate choice” eventually devolves into routine killing.
In 2019 a Canadian man with ALS made headlines when he chose to take his own life under the country’s assisted suicide and euthanasia laws after the government chose not to provide him with 24-hour home healthcare services due to cost.
Recent news articles allege that an elderly woman in Ontario — dubbed “Mrs. B” in official reports — was euthanized against her after her elderly husband began “experiencing caregiver burnout.” Her husband reportedly requested “an urgent assessment” of his wife’s eligibility for assisted suicide. She was euthanized that evening.
In parts of the U.S. where physician-assisted suicide is legal, insurance companies have refused to pay for patients’ medical care, but have offered to cover assisted-suicide drugs.
Arkansas has strong protections for human life. Our state should learn from other countries’ struggles with assisted suicide and euthanasia. When governments start deciding who lives and who dies, they cross a line that threatens the most vulnerable among us.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
