On Saturday, deputies completed their review of the end-of-life bill without including a clause allowing private institutions to refuse assisted dying. A protest drew four thousand people in Paris on Sunday.
Deputies refused to insert a conscience clause for private and associative health establishments. These structures will therefore not be able to oppose the practice of assisted dying on their premises.
Mgr Matthieu Rougé, bishop of Nanterre, denounced an « ideological relentlessness ». He said many faith-based or ethical institutions had requested the right not to practice euthanasia or assisted suicide.
On Sunday, four thousand people gathered at Place de Fontenoy in Paris to voice their opposition. Élisabeth de Courrèges, spokesperson for the « appel du 28 juin » collective, stated that the bill did not meet the real needs of sick people.
The solemn third-reading vote in the National Assembly is scheduled for Tuesday. Sister Sophie, of the Little Sisters of the Poor, said the institutions involved could not « give death » and found themselves in a deadlock.
