{"id":15640,"date":"2026-08-21T08:01:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T05:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/euthanasia-a-strange-political-moral-and-spiritual-defeat\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T08:01:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T05:01:50","slug":"euthanasia-a-strange-political-moral-and-spiritual-defeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/euthanasia-a-strange-political-moral-and-spiritual-defeat\/","title":{"rendered":"Euthanasia: A Strange Political, Moral and Spiritual Defeat"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Causeur<\/em> reports, the Constitutional Council, led by a close associate of the President, validated the euthanasia law despite polling showing a majority of French citizens would prefer expanded palliative care over crossing this new moral threshold. The magazine notes that the law advanced regardless of public opinion, steamrolling over senatorial opposition and bypassing any referendum.<\/p>\n

The legislation was presented to the National Assembly under the stewardship of Philippe Vigier<\/strong>, chosen as a more consensual figure than his Socialist predecessor Olivier Falorni<\/strong>. Deputies voted solemnly on July 15 to usher France into the era of state-sanctioned death assistance, which Macron reportedly views as a generous legacy to future generations.<\/p>\n

A Moral and Political Defeat<\/h2>\n

According to Causeur<\/em>, this development reflects France’s deepening secularization. With nearly half of French citizens now choosing cremation for economic and ecological reasons, and priests increasingly absent from funerals\u2014a trend documented by demographer J\u00e9r\u00f4me Fourquet<\/strong>\u2014death has gradually lost its sacred character in French society.<\/p>\n

Historian Guillaume Cuchet<\/strong> recently observed that the Catholic Church distanced itself from the cult of the dead after Vatican II, believing it had other pastoral priorities. The French state has now filled that void, assuming full responsibility for end-of-life matters. The irony is stark: Macron will roll out the red carpet for the Pope in late September without fear of reproach, confident in the moral autonomy France has claimed since the 1905 separation of church and state.<\/p>\n

Democratic Despotism<\/h2>\n

The publication characterizes the legislative process as an exercise in what Tocqueville called democratic despotism\u2014an immense tutelary power that relieves citizens of the trouble of thinking and the pain of living, now extending even to administering what was once the Church’s domain of last rites.<\/p>\n

The so-called democratic debate proceeded without regard for Senate opposition or popular referendum. The progressive lobby groups on Rue Cadet and the ADMD, representing barely 130,000 people\u2014just 0.2 percent of the population\u2014celebrated victory while 68 million French citizens received assurances about marching in the direction of History and expanding individual rights.<\/p>\n

International Warning Signs<\/h2>\n

As Causeur<\/em> points out, experience in Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands suggests demand will increase dramatically. In those countries, euthanasia now accounts for 4 to 6 percent of all deaths and has been extended to young adults suffering psychological distress rather than terminal illness.<\/p>\n

Louis Bouffard<\/strong>, a 26-year-old writer afflicted with Duchenne muscular dystrophy that progressively atrophies his body, has been among the most vocal opponents of the legislation. Despite his repeated warnings, his calls went unheeded. Those who have met Bouffard testify that his terrible disease has done nothing to diminish the eminent dignity of his existence\u2014paradoxically, it reveals it. Deprived of mobility, he demonstrates more vitality than many able-bodied citizens through sheer force of soul.<\/p>\n

The Tyranny of Compassion<\/h2>\n

Drawing on philosopher Ren\u00e9 Girard<\/strong>‘s insights, Causeur<\/em> warns that mandatory compassion for some can transform into tyranny for many. Cloaked in the secular mask of charity, victim-centered logic justifies the cruelest decisions through diabolical inversion. How, the magazine asks, will suffering persons eligible under this law not choose\u2014in a supposedly free and informed manner\u2014to relieve a society too preoccupied with profit and leisure to care for them properly?<\/p>\n

The Elys\u00e9e Palace, in a gesture reminiscent of Pontius Pilate washing his hands, celebrates this transgression as societal progress crowning an exemplary democratic debate. France has taken another step in what the magazine describes as the infinite extension of individual rights, achieved by crushing those who stand in History’s way.<\/p>\n

With information from Causeur<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

France legalized euthanasia as President Macron signed the assisted dying law on August 19, despite polls showing most citizens prefer expanded palliative care over the controversial measure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":15639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[12065,2169,235,7919,55,12066,12067],"nfg_topic":[134],"class_list":["post-15640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-assisted-dying-law","tag-constitutional-council","tag-emmanuel-macron","tag-euthanasia","tag-france","tag-palliative-care","tag-philippe-vigier","nfg_topic-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15640"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=15640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}