Francis the Catholic, Bayrou the Prime Minister

The end-of-life file is not ready to be put in the closet, but through dissolution and resignation it is starting to gather dust. It was due to return to the parliamentary calendar at the start of the year, according to the agenda of Michel Barnier’s government, overthrown on December 4. François Bayrou, the new Prime Minister, who must clarify his intentions on Tuesday January 14 in his general policy speech before the Hemicycle, has always had reservations about the idea of ​​a law of this nature.

Motivated by his Catholic convictions, the MoDem man is not in favor of legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide. The inclusion of “active assistance in dying” in the law has been envisaged since April 2023, the date of the end of the Citizens’ Convention on the end of life.

Shortly after, in May 2023, François Bayrou called it quits in an interview with Figaro : “ Let’s not do a public service to cause death “. The mayor of Pau instead defends better application of the Claeys-Leonetti law, passed in 2005 to improve support for people at the end of their lives. In particular, he calls for a network of palliative care units throughout the territory, of which around twenty departments do not exist.

230 deputies in favor of a change in the legal framework

The fact remains that this seasoned politician is now head of government and must maneuver between his personal convictions and the obligations of his office. On December 17, 2024, a few days after the appointment of François Bayrou, Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly, asked about France Info that the parliamentary calendar is maintained and that the end-of-life bill is properly debated in the weeks of February 3 and 10.

If the Prime Minister refused to include the bill in the debate agenda, he would go against the grain of a National Assembly largely in favor of a change in the legal framework. Around 230 deputies, from the Les Républicains (LR) party to La France Insoumise, co-signed the version of the text tabled again in July 2024 by Olivier Falorni, general rapporteur of the text before the dissolution. In any case, the text could be put on the agenda by the parliamentarians themselves during the week of February 3, during which the Assembly will control the legislative calendar.

No frontal opposition from the Prime Minister

François Bayrou will certainly not use the strong method, especially since he is rather discreet about his personal convictions. This practicing Christian “never showed any direct opposition to the end-of-life bill during the discussions at party headquarters.” He only seems “less active than others”, admits Erwan Balanant, deputy for Finistère, member of François Bayrou’s party since its creation in 2007.

Likewise, Jean-Paul Matteï, MoDem deputy in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and close to the new tenant of Matignon, claims to have never received any comments from the latter about the text. “He let the debate take place,” he adds. This is lively and disagreements cross all political parties, particularly centrist groups and the MoDem, to which the rapporteur Olivier Falorni is related. “When I was president of the MoDem group (from June 2022 to July 2024, Editor’s note), I gave everyone the freedom to vote. Not everyone voted for the text, that didn’t bother me,” recalls Jean-Paul Matteï.

Opponents mainly from the right

The majority of deputies are in favor of voting for a new law on the end of life, but the outcome of the debates remains uncertain. “In the MoDem group, several have not yet decided how they are going to vote, they are nourished by parliamentary debates,” assures the deputy for Pyrénées-Atlantiques. The opponents of the law, with whom François Bayrou could share his intimate convictions, mainly come from the right.

But not only that. The MoDem Cyrille Isaac-Sibille, the Christian socialist Dominique Potier, the communist Pierre Dharréville and the Renaissance deputy Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet also showed their disagreements. In government, Bruno Retailleau, LR Minister of the Interior, is the only one to strongly oppose the bill, having even put his resignation in the balance.