French bishops launch unprecedented campaign to oppose 'assisted dying' bill

PARIS (OSV News) -- With France poised to vote on a controversial "assisted dying" bill, the country's Catholic bishops have launched an unprecedented public campaign urging Catholics to speak out.

The bill, championed by President Emmanuel Macron, is set for a key vote in the National Assembly May 27.

The bishops called on all Catholics in France to take personal action to challenge their representatives in Parliament who are preparing to vote on the bill.

In June 2024, a previous bill in favor of euthanasia -- an "end of life" bill -- was already on the verge of being passed in Paris. Macron, who initiated the bill, called it a "law of fraternity." But on June 9, the president decided to dissolve the National Assembly, thereby halting all ongoing legislative processes.

In January, the newly appointed Catholic Prime Minister François Bayrou requested that the issues of palliative care and assisted dying, which had previously been combined in the same "end of life" bill, be examined by Parliament in two separate texts. Since April 9, two separate bills were therefore examined by the National Assembly's Social Affairs Committee.

While the bill in favor of palliative care -- guaranteeing every patient access to such care at the end of life -- enjoys a broad consensus, the other bill -- advocating the legalization of medical assistance in dying -- is causing deep divisions within the French political parties.

The bishops have been strongly mobilized on the issue of "aid to die" for over a year. "It has been years since a social issue or reform project has mobilized them to this extent," the national daily Le Monde noted on March 19. "Through interviews, opinion pieces, and appearances on television and radio shows during prime time, the clergy is mobilizing to express its clear and unequivocal opposition to the reform sought by Emmanuel Macron."

In recent weeks, the French bishops have stepped up their efforts to call on parliamentarians to oppose the introduction of the "right to die" bill.

On May 6, the outgoing president of the French bishops' conference, Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort of Reims, responded on X to Macron's comments on the "assisted dying" bill. Macron had addressed the Freemasons of the Grand Lodge of France the day before, referring to active assistance in dying as a "lesser evil."

"No, Mr. President, the choice to kill and to help kill is not the lesser evil," Archbishop Moulins-Beaufort replied. "It is simply death. This must be said without lying and without hiding behind words. Killing cannot be the choice of brotherhood or dignity. It is the choice of abandonment and refusal to help until the end. This transgression will weigh heavily on the most vulnerable and lonely members of our society."

For his part, Archbishop Olivier de Germay of Lyon, appealed to the members of Parliament in in a May 12 statement: "We need politicians who have the courage to go against the tide" and who "have the courage to say no to a pseudo-solidarity that would amount to telling elderly people that we can help them disappear."

On May 15, religious leaders in France, including Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Protestants, Orthodox and Buddhists, published their first joint opposition to the proposal. Signed by Archbishop Moulins-Beaufort and published by the bishops' conference, the joint statement denounced "serious abuses" and the "radical shift" that the introduction of "assisted dying" bill would entail.

The following day, in the Catholic daily newspaper La Croix, Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours, vice president of the bishops' conference, explained the reasons for the church's opposition to the bill.

"We truly help people die when we accompany them to the end of their lives," he said. "There is a glaring shortage of caregivers, and one in two French people who could claim it still do not have access to quality palliative care, which we know reduces requests for death in the vast majority of cases," he said.

On May 17, lawmakers passed an amendment to the bill that will be voted on May 27, creating a new "right to die with assistance." They refused to use the terms "euthanasia" -- because "it was used from October 1939 onwards by Hitler and the Nazis" -- and "suicide", to avoid confusion with suicide prevention as it has been commonly understood until now.

On May 18, parishes across France distributed posters and flyers during Sunday Masses, which were also published on the social media accounts of dioceses and parishes, reinforcing the bishops' campaign to oppose the bill.

The bishops expressly asked Catholic faithful to personally contact their representatives.

"Let us not remain silent," they insisted. "Let us say no to the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide. ... If adopted on May 27, this bill, one of the most permissive in the world, would threaten the most vulnerable and call into question the respect due to all human life."

Three days later, however, on May 21, the National Assembly deputies adopted the article defining the outlines of the procedure for requesting assistance in dying, which is to be made available even to those who have not yet had access to palliative care.

That same evening, 12 bishops of the Paris region took part in a vigil and heard testimonies for life in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

In the National Assembly, the debate is set to continue until May 25, before a formal vote on May 27.