Archbishop of Paris: Assisted suicide law ‘not the end of the fight’

(LifeSiteNews) — The archbishop of Paris has urged Catholics not to abide by France’s new assisted suicide law.

Archbishop Laurent Ulrich said that the introduction of assisted suicide in France is “not the end of the fight” for life. The new legislation, which legalizes assisted suicide under certain conditions, was promulgated by President Emmanuel Macron on August 19.

Ulrich called on Catholics to “continue to pray, hope and act creatively and consistently.”

“Today, tomorrow, in the time to come, we will undoubtedly have to make courageous choices, perhaps against the tide, starting with those we will make for ourselves. It is thus up to us, first of all, to choose not to ask to benefit from this new ‘right,’” he said.

The law allows patients who suffer from a serious, incurable disease or who are in unbearable pain to choose assisted suicide after consulting at least two doctors and a “medical auxiliary,” such as a nurse or physiotherapist who evaluates the condition. The person requesting to die must be at least 18 years old, a French citizen or longtime resident, and able to express a free and informed will.

While these rules appear restrictive, examples of other countries that have legalized assisted suicide or euthanasia, like Belgium, the Netherlands, or Canada, have shown that such restrictions can quickly be taken away, leading to children and those with mental illnesses to opt for “assisted dying.”

READ: Euthanasia for mental illness already taking place in Canada, psychiatrist testifies

France’s Constitutional Council ruled on August 14 that the assisted dying bill did not violate the “principle of safeguarding human dignity,” enabling it to come into force. However, the Council also said private institutions and pharmacists could refuse to carry out the procedure on conscience grounds.

“The reservations expressed by the Constitutional Council are an opportunity in this regard: that the structures that have made the accompaniment of seriously ill people their raison d’être and palliative care their expertise find in these reservations an encouragement to maintain their particularity, and to remain these places where one will not kill,” Ulrich stated.

President Macron welcomed the new law, stressing that it completed “an exemplary democratic debate.” The lower house of the French Parliament, the National Assembly, passed the law three times, but the Senate rejected it each time. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu bypassed the Senate by invoking Article 45 of the French Constitution, allowing the National Assembly to proceed without Senate approval. The Lower House then passed the bill by a fourth vote.

The French Bishops’ Conference warned in July that the poorest people “may be the first to pay the price” and that French society’s “relationship to vulnerability, old age, disability or illness will change.” The French bishops said they believed “the political, ideological and probably even economic stakes” raised by proponents dominated the debate over the assisted dying law. Supporters of the bill argued that introducing assisted suicide would save the country an estimated €1.4 billion in expenses per year.

Bishop Marc Aillet of Bayonne, Lescar and Oloron said last month that Catholic legislators who vote in favor of the bill cannot receive Holy Communion.