Assisted dying: Catherine Vautrin will “complete” the text to define the “advanced phase” and reinstate the 48-hour reflection period

The government wants to "complete" the text on assisted dying to ensure even more regulated access, by more strictly defining the right of appeal for patients in an "advanced phase" and re-establishing the 48-hour reflection period, Health Minister Catherine Vautrin announced on Sunday, May 11.

On this sensitive subject of the end of life, "there is a strong expectation from the French, but it must be strictly regulated. The path is narrow and I am seeking a balance between those who would like to go much further and those who believe that the current framework is sufficient," underlines the minister in search of "a balance" on this text, in an interview with Le Parisien , published on the eve of the launch of the debates in the hemicycle of the National Assembly.

"These are not thousands of cases, these are specific situations," the minister argued, also assuring that "this is not a legalization of euthanasia." As it stands, the text emerging from the Social Affairs Committee intends to allow patients suffering from a "serious and incurable condition" that is "life-threatening, in an advanced or terminal phase" and who can no longer bear their suffering, to receive or administer a lethal substance.

"I am supplementing it with the recent recommendations of the High Authority for Health (HAS) so that access to assisted dying is strictly regulated. The government will table an amendment to define the "advanced phase", namely "the entry into an irreversible process marked by the worsening of the state of health which affects the quality of life" , the minister said.

As "discernment is absolutely essential" , she will also submit "on behalf of the government an amendment to re-establish the irreducible reflection period of 48 hours from the doctors' agreement" .

Regarding the injection of the product, "the patient must administer the lethal substance to themselves, this must be the rule," insists the minister, and "the performance by a health professional will be the exception, even if there will always be the presence of a caregiver in the case of self-administration."

Catherine Vautrin, whose "life experiences (...) have changed" on the subject, particularly due to the Charcot disease of one of her relatives, is not giving "any voting instructions" , but is hoping for "an informed consensus around a balanced text" .

As for whether this reform, which is divisive even within the government and has been constantly delayed, will be adopted before the end of the five-year term, the minister wants to be "extremely cautious" but believes that "it would be a good thing" .