Archbishop Responds to President’s End-of-Life Remarks Ahead of National Debate

Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, the outgoing President of the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF), has publicly challenged President Emmanuel Macron’s statements regarding end-of-life care and the impending legislation on assisted dying. In a statement released on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, the Archbishop directly addressed the President’s framing of the issue, asserting that "the choice to make someone die and to help them kill themselves is not the choice of the lesser evil. It is the choice of death, pure and simple."

The Archbishop’s response comes in the wake of President Macron’s remarks to members of the Grande Loge de France, a prominent Masonic lodge. The President, speaking just a week before the National Assembly is scheduled to begin debating a bill establishing a "right to assisted dying," argued that the debate should not be simplistically reduced to a binary choice between "for" and "against" life. Instead, he proposed that the central question should be identifying the "lesser evil" in situations of unbearable suffering.

Archbishop de Moulins-Beaufort vehemently rejected this framing. He argued that the President’s perspective fundamentally misrepresents the moral weight of the decision to actively end a life. According to the Archbishop, framing the issue as a choice of the "lesser evil" obscures the profound ethical implications and the potential for such policies to normalize the act of intentionally causing death.

The Archbishop further elaborated on his opposition, stating that the "choice to make someone die" constitutes "abandonment and a refusal to help until the very end." He implied that proponents of assisted dying are prioritizing expediency over compassion and overlooking the possibility of providing comprehensive support and care to individuals facing terminal illnesses. This argument aligns with the Church’s traditional stance emphasizing the sanctity of life and the moral imperative to provide care and support to vulnerable individuals, even in the face of immense suffering.

To further reinforce his position, Archbishop de Moulins-Beaufort accompanied his online statement with a photograph and a quote from the late Pope Francis. The quote, "On ne joue pas avec la vie" ("We do not play with life"), was delivered by the Pontiff during a visit to Marseille in September 2023. The inclusion of this quote serves as a powerful reminder of the Church’s unwavering commitment to the protection of human life and its resistance to any measures that could be perceived as devaluing or undermining this fundamental principle.

The upcoming parliamentary debate on end-of-life care is poised to be a highly contentious and emotionally charged affair. The National Assembly is scheduled to begin deliberations on May 12, initiating a two-week period of intensive discussion. The debate will encompass both the bill establishing a "right to assisted dying" and a separate bill concerning palliative care. Lawmakers plan to hold a joint general discussion on both pieces of legislation, followed by two formal votes on May 29.

The proposed legislation on assisted dying seeks to grant individuals suffering from "serious and incurable conditions" that "engage the vital prognosis, in advanced or terminal phase," and who experience unbearable suffering, the option to receive or self-administer a lethal substance.

This framework is based on a proposal from Olivier Falorni, a member of the MoDem party, which was recently approved by the Social Affairs Committee of the National Assembly.

However, the proposed legislation has faced significant opposition from various quarters, including medical professionals and religious leaders. The Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS), the French national authority for health, recently released a statement arguing that it is "impossible," in the absence of medical consensus, to determine who would be eligible for assisted dying based solely on a "mid-term" vital prognosis or the "terminal phase" of an illness. The HAS instead suggested considering the individual’s "quality of remaining life" as a key factor in determining eligibility. This ambiguous term has raised concerns about the potential for subjective interpretations and the risk of excluding individuals who might benefit from assisted dying while including others who do not meet the intended criteria.

The intervention by Archbishop de Moulins-Beaufort underscores the deep divisions within French society regarding end-of-life issues. His statement represents a significant challenge to President Macron’s attempt to frame the debate as a pragmatic search for the "lesser evil." The Archbishop’s staunch opposition, coupled with the concerns raised by the HAS and other stakeholders, suggests that the upcoming parliamentary debate will be a complex and highly charged process.

The Archbishop’s opposition also highlights a potential concern regarding the expansion of individual autonomy at the expense of societal responsibility towards vulnerable individuals. Critics of assisted dying argue that legalizing such practices could erode the social safety net and pressure individuals, particularly those facing financial or social hardship, to consider ending their lives prematurely.

The debate also has significant implications for the provision of palliative care in France. While the government has pledged to increase funding for palliative care services, some argue that the focus on assisted dying could detract from the resources and attention needed to improve the quality and accessibility of palliative care for all those who need it.

As the National Assembly prepares to grapple with these complex ethical and practical considerations, the debate on end-of-life care in France is certain to remain at the forefront of the national conversation. The interventions of prominent figures like Archbishop de Moulins-Beaufort will undoubtedly shape the contours of the debate and influence the eventual outcome of the legislative process.