France Prepares to Criminalize Suicide Prevention

France is set to pass the most extreme law on assisted suicide and euthanasia since the Nazi regime. This bill would not only allow the killing of the physically and mentally ill, but would also do what no country in world history has ever done, which is to criminalize, with two years imprisonment, suicide prevention.

The current French regime has created over the last three decades a “delit d’entrave,” which means a crime of interfering/ intravening. This is currently most famously applied to abortion, where it is illegal to try to dissuade anyone from having or performing an abortion in a one-on-one context. Sidewalk counseling is illegal in France, as are familial discussions attempting to dissuade someone from aborting. The assisted suicide and euthanasia bill, in its current form, will apply to any adult suffering from a physical or mental illness that, left untreated, would most likely lead to death. People suffering from depression, severe anxiety, diabetes, and skin cancer are some of those who would be eligible. The French bill would also criminalize anyone attempting to dissuade someone from committing suicide through assisted suicide or euthanasia. This applies to psychologists, therapists, priests, teachers, parents, doctors, and even organizations attempting to prevent suicide.

Should this bill become law, anyone who tries to talk someone out of medically killing themselves would be liable for 2 years in prison and a 30,000 euro fine. Let that sink in.

High school student mental health awareness programs could be liable, best friends talking in private to each other could be liable, and even a child urging their sick parent not to kill themselves could be liable.

Article 17, Section 2 states, “Is punished with two years imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros the act of stopping or trying to stop the practicing, or informing on medical aid in dying by any method including through electronic communication and online, notably by the transmitting of allegations or indications…with a goal of dissuasion, on the characteristics or consequences of medical aid in dying.”

Section 3 criminalizes trying to disrupt in any way the locations where euthanasia and assisted suicides will occur, which would mean that you couldn’t go to the hospital to try to dissuade your 18-year-old teenager or the doctor prepared to euthanize them.

That is followed by Section 4, which criminalizes the exercising of “moral or psychological pressure, by threatening or any act of intimidation towards people trying to be informed on medical aid in dying, the personnel participating in medical aid in dying, the people wishing to have recourse to medical aid in dying…” This means that any attempt to dissuade a loved one would be illegal.

All of this is topped off by the last section, which gives activist “right to die” organizations the legal right to file lawsuits against individuals and organizations that violate the delit d’entrave. These organizations have already stated that they will go after religious retirement homes and institutions that refuse to participate in assisted suicide and euthanasia. These groups would sue parents who try to keep their depressed 18-year-olds from getting assisted suicide.

The Senate rejected the bill and has now returned to the lower house. If the Senate and the lower house do not reach an agreement, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu can ask the lower house to have the final word.

I am Franco-American, and I love France. It has been a third home for me, not just the place where my family originated, but also a beautiful land of history, music, and food, where I have made some great friends. What is happening in my family's country breaks my heart.

In January, I traveled to France to join the French March for Life with Pro-Life Global. I was able to reconnect with many friends I deeply admire. They are among the few standing up against what I see as a growing culture of death, and I am grateful to call them my friends.

Making suicide prevention a crime is a bigger issue than many realize. If this law passes in France, it could spread to other Western countries. Even with the First Amendment, similar laws could eventually appear in the United States.

Anyone who opposes suicide and believes in protecting the vulnerable must stand up against this bill on the world stage.

The US government should condemn it and, if necessary, consider sanctions to prevent it from passing. President Macron’s government is unpopular, with only a 17 percent approval rating. Stopping this bill now could make a real difference.

-

The blogs published on this news site are created by contributors to the International Youth Coalition. The opinions, views, and statements expressed in these blogs belong solely to the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of the affiliated organization.