France’s leading evangelical body has condemned a newly approved assisted dying bill as a violation of human dignity, warning that it threatens society’s moral foundation and endangers its most vulnerable members.
The Conseil National des Évangéliques de France (CNEF) issued a strongly worded letter to lawmakers ahead of the May 27 vote in the National Assembly, which passed the measure by 305 to 199. The bill would allow adults over 18 with incurable illnesses to end their lives through lethal medication, either self-administered or assisted by medical professionals under certain conditions.
The bill must still be approved by the upper house, the Sénat, and a final vote in the National Assembly may not take place until 2027. A separate bill aimed at improving palliative care was also passed on Tuesday.
Before the vote, CNEF published a letter on May 21 addressed to all members of Parliament, calling the assisted dying proposal a “violation of dignity.” The letter, titled End of Life: Letter to Members of Parliament, also noted that “the Legal Service and the Pastoral Service for Parliamentarians have forwarded proposals for changes to the law to parliamentarians interested in the subject.”
“Through this initiative, we wish to alert them, encourage the strengthening of palliative care, and call for protective legislation that ensures that the dignity of every human being will be preserved until the end of his or her life," added the CNEF.
“We ask every member of parliament to act for a humane society that cares for, accompanies, protects and honours life, reminding them that every human being, created in the image of God, possesses inestimable dignity, whatever their limitations or weaknesses.”
The letter sent to MPs affirmed the position of evangelical Protestants, as represented by CNEF, about the issue and saying “this path threatens the dignity of the most vulnerable.”
A particular concern expressed by CNEF has been “uncontrollable prospects,” according to the letter. The CNEF compared the situation of other countries such as Belgium, The Netherlands and Canada where assisted dying has been allowed and called the opening up of euthanasia “a deleterious slope,” citing concerns expressed in 2013 by the National Ethics Advisory Committee (Comité consultatif national d'éthique pour les sciences de la vie et de la santé), a French government advisory council on bioethics.
The evangelical body pointed out that where assisted dying has been allowed in foreign countries, the initial target of permission given to the terminally unwell has been widened “to include vulnerable members of society (minors; legally incompetent adults; the disabled; people suffering from depression, etc.).”
The CNEF letter noted that the safeguards initially established were gradually and systematically dismantled.
Three particular areas of concern were expressed by the CNEF to MPs in the letter: “dangerous eligibility criteria; the absence of collegiality and traceability in the procedure; the indecent timeframes envisaged for decision-making in the procedure.”
The eligibility criteria for accessing assisted dying posed an issue in that “the notion of serious and incurable illness, whatever the cause, treated or untreated, considerably widens the pool of people eligible for aid in dying.”
Millions could die as a result, the CNEF added, saying: "These provisions would effectively allow the 13.8 million people suffering from long-term illnesses to request that their lives be cut short. Are we fully aware of the scope of this Pandora's box, and the massive flood of 'early departure requests' we could unleash?”
Another criticism raised by CNEF was the lack of sufficient procedural safeguards, which it argued are essential when permitting assisted dying. The group said the current proposal fails to meet this standard and falls short of basic principles of informed consent and its proper documentation within medical practice.
“It opens the door to abuses of all kinds,” added the letter. “The request for death can simply be made orally to a doctor, with no witnesses and no trace of written consent. There is no prior psychiatric examination, and no requirement for collegiality.
“The opinion of a second doctor is merely consultative, leaving the final decision in the hands of an all-powerful individual. How can we imagine such a light-hearted approach to the irreversible nature of such a choice, when collegiality is required for many medical protocols?”
A third criticism was against the “unbelievable” short timeline involved from a request to die with “15 days maximum for the medical decision.” The CNEF compared this to an article in Le Figaro newspaper, which reported that cosmetic surgery requests in Austria and Canada were three months, far longer than the time allowed for assisted dying/right to die in France.
“As we know, the demand for death fluctuates, and statistics from palliative care units show that it declines significantly when patients are surrounded by loving, caring humanity,” stated the CNEF letter to MPs.
“Let's be that humanity together; let's collectively give ourselves the means to increase this desire for life rather than making death a care. How could the hands that care be the same hands that inoculate death? The relationship between caregiver and patient could be profoundly altered, in contradiction with the Hippocratic oath and article L4127-38 of the French Public Health Code.”
The CNEF said the welfare of those vulnerable for differing reasons was under threat and expressed concern that the planned law would put them under pressure to see themselves as putting a financial burden on society because of their physical, psychological or social needs.
The CNEF letter emphasized that individuals in vulnerable situations should be seen not as financial burdens, but as human beings deserving of protection and compassion.
“What's more, the cynical stance adopted by some in the debate on active aid in dying—around the financial interest in qualifying this assisted death as a natural death—should alert us to motivations that go far beyond so-called declarations of humanism.”
The dignity of a society should be measured by its ability to protect and nurture the “weakest” rather than hastening their early deaths, the CNEF pointed out.
“As evangelical Protestants, we pray that France will remain such a society. The project as it stands is not worthy of our duty of humanity,” concluded the letter.
The letter encouraged the expansion of palliative care and advocated for protective legislation to ensure that the dignity of every person, including the most vulnerable, is upheld until the end of life.
"We affirm that every human being, created in the image of God, possesses inestimable dignity, whatever their limitations or weaknesses. We urge you to act for a humane society that cares for, accompanies, protects and honors life.”
