Several thousand opponents of the future end-of-life law, whose examination resumes Tuesday in the Senate, gathered Sunday in Paris as part of the "march for life" to "carry the message that life is worth living."
This demonstration, organized annually by activists within conservative Catholic ranks, brought together some 10,000 people, according to its organizers.
The Paris police prefecture counted 7,300 participants at the height of the demonstration, which began in the early afternoon at Place Vauban (7th arrondissement).
"The bill on end-of-life care is a civilizational shift," Marie-Lys Pellissier, spokesperson for the "march for life," told AFP.
"The doctor is there to treat, to relieve the patient, not to give them death. We want the most vulnerable to be respected in their human dignity and accompanied until their natural death with palliative care. Euthanasia will kill palliative care," she continued.
"This bill is a perversion of the mission of the medical profession, which is to protect life. History has shown that where life ceases to be inviolable, man loses his freedom," Bishop Dominique Rey, Bishop Emeritus of Fréjus-Toulon, also declared from the podium before the start of the march.
Delayed due to political instability, debates on end-of-life care resumed in committee at the Senate on Wednesday. The bill is now scheduled to be examined in the plenary session starting Tuesday, before a formal vote on January 28.
The National Assembly is expected to take up the matter again in February.
Two bills are being examined in parallel, the first, which is fairly consensual, on palliative care, and the second, which is much more sensitive, on the creation of assisted dying.
"We hope that the Senate majority will oppose administered death," the president of the "March for Life," Guillaume de Thieulloy, told AFP a few days ago.
Because "if euthanasia is legalized, it is the death of palliative care," he said, calling on parliamentarians to establish "safeguards" in particular regarding reflection periods and conscience clauses.
"I am here to show that there are young people who defend life, that life does not belong to anyone," explained Marie, 17, a nursing student, to AFP on Sunday, without wanting to give her last name.
“All French people should mobilize against this despicable bill, which, behind a veneer of compassion, simply aims to kill people by lethal injection,” said Jean-François De Wilde, 75, who comes every year from Normandy for the march. “It’s a step backward for civilization. After being the only country in the world to enshrine abortion in its constitution, the government is now attacking the other end of life.”
Other slogans of Sunday's demonstration include the development of a "major palliative care plan", the defense of conscientious objection for healthcare workers, and "encouraging anonymous childbirth".
Last year, the "March for Life" was held in opposition to abortion 50 years after the Veil Law. It brought together 4,300 people, according to the police prefecture, and 15,000 participants according to the organizers.
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