The bill, introduced on 27 May, is set to be more permissive than existing laws in Canada and Belgium.

A commission of 71 parliamentarians reviewed over 3,000 amendments in May before presenting the bill.

Controversially, the bill allows euthanasia for patients with psychiatric conditions and even children. This is similar to Belgium's liberal laws on physician-assisted suicide.

Catholic leaders have voiced strong opposition. Archbishop Pierre d'Ornellas of Rennes and Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours, vice president of the Bishops' Conference of France, condemned the bill.

"The dignity of a human society consists in accompanying life until death, not in facilitating death" the French bishops declared.

Despite the strong Catholic opposition, public opinion in France seems largely supportive. Polls suggest that 90% of citizens favour "active assistance in dying".

End of Christian influence in France

However Father Bruno Saintôt, head of the Biomedical Ethics Department at Paris' Centre Sèvres, cautioned that poll questions might be leading and influencing responses towards favouring euthanasia.

"If people are asked whether they would like to be able to shorten their lives in the event of suffering deemed unbearable, the question is bound to elicit a positive response" said Father Saintôt, who is also an expert in this field for the French bishops' conference.

"The terms ‘euthanasia' and ‘assisted suicide' are not mentioned in the government's bill even though they are central to it" Father Saintôt pointed out. "It is a serious matter to want to numb consciences in this way!"

For Father Saintôt, the bill is "the marker of the end of a society influenced by Christianity".

French President Emmanuel Macron initiated the debate on the bill which he dubbed a "law of fraternity".

Nonetheless, Catholic leaders and several caregivers emphasise the importance of upholding ethical standards and the need for better palliative care.

"The new law facilitating access to death will considerably weaken palliative care" Father Saintôt stressed. "Active assistance in dying will appear as the solution to the shortcomings of palliative care. It will be easier, less costly and will become the norm" the bioethics expert said, pointing to the brutal truth that euthanasia is simply cheaper.

The National Assembly is set for two weeks of discussions on the bill, with a vote scheduled for 11 June. If passed, the bill will move to the Senate in the autumn. Political parties have left the vote to individual deputies' consciences, reflecting the bill's contentious nature.

Sources

America Magazine

The Catholic Weekly

CathNews New Zealand

Emmanuel Macron said he does not 'totally adhere' to Eurocrats explaining the words 'people can and can't use' just a week after Brussels withdrew its controversial guidelines for inclusive communication.

The document details were leaked last week and led to a furious backlash with many accusing the EU of trying to 'cancel Christmas' after telling staff to avoid the word in favour of 'holiday period' because it could be offensive to non-Christians.

Politicians from Italy - where the story first emerged - accused the EU of waging a war on 'common sense' while the Vatican accused Brussels of trying to 'cancel' Europe's Christian roots.

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The discussions aim to 'turn the page' on the aftermath of the weapons tests. Between 1966 to 1996, France carried out 193 tests in the South Pacific.

French president Emmanuel Macron called the meeting after a new study about a 1974 atmospheric weapons test caused an outcry.

The study 'Toxique' concluded the fallout from the tests affected everyone, not just those in the immediate testing zone around Morurua as the public had been told.

French Polynesia's president Edouard Fritch welcomes Macron's initiative.

However the opposition, nuclear veteran groups and the dominant Maohi Protestant Church are rejecting the initiative. They say delegation lacks credibility and legitimacy.

Fritch says the talks should bring 'truth and justice'. The agenda includes looking at the tests' impact on health and the environment, as well as the financial costs.

The Tahitian delegation also wants France to acknowledge its nuclear legacy in the constitution.

Fritch will be asking Macorn "to give us a precise timetable and above all to send us competent people in the matters that will be discussed."

A representative of the territorial assembly and the territory's members of the French legislature, will also attend the meetings, along with employer and union delegates.

French Polynesia's former president Gaston Flosse, who for decades defended France's testing regime, was not invited.

The pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira party has rejected the invitation to Paris outright. They say the planned talks are a sham.

Temaru says such talks should not be held in the capital of the colonising power, but in New York under the auspices of the United Nations.

While France refuses to acknowledge the 2013 UN decision to reinscribe French Polynesia on the decolonisation list, Temaru insists that "the right of peoples to self-determination is a sacred right."

Other boycotting the talks include members of the nuclear test veterans organisation.

Its leader says after 50 years of people suffering from the test legacy, those going to Paris put money at the forefront of their demands and not ethics.

Although the Maohi Protestant Church has declined to attend the talks, it has invited Macron to attend its synod while he is in Tahiti during the coming months.

The church leader says if they had gone to Paris, they would be misled.

In Tahiti the presence of the local people would create a counterweight to Macron.

The church says the French state proceeded with the tests despite knowing the impact of nuclear testing since before 1963.

Both the church and the Tavini Huiraatira Party say this amounts a crime against humanity.

Three years ago, they took their case to the International Criminal Court, but it is not known if the Court has accepted their complaint.

Paris roundly rejected the claims, saying it was a misuse of the court's international jurisdiction for local political purposes.

French Polynesia has paid $US800 million to treat a total of 10,000 people suffering from radiation-related cancer.

France has not reimbursed this money.

Developmental disorders are common. In 2018, a study reported pervasive developmental disorders in zones close to the Morurua weapons test site.

The study leader says a quarter of children he treats for pervasive developmental disorders have intellectual disabilities or deformities, which he attributes to genetic mutations.

Source

• Radio NZ
• Image: BBC