Assisted dying: "I will vote" for the text, "but I am putting a warning on palliative care," says François Ruffin

The bill concerning assisted dying will be submitted to a formal vote by the National Assembly on Tuesday.

As MPs are due to vote on the bill on assisted dying on Tuesday, "I will vote for it, but I am putting a warning on palliative care ," declared François Ruffin, MP for the Somme, affiliated with the Ecologist and Social group, on Sunday 25 May, in "Questions politiques" on France Inter, franceinfo and Le Monde.

Regarding the text on palliative care, François Ruffin points out a gap between intentions and the reality on the ground: "The principle is declared, there would be access to palliative care throughout the country, for all citizens. Very well, that's the declaration. But I have serious doubts about the means because, today, one in two patients does not have access to palliative care."

He is concerned about the limited resources put on the table by the government, namely 1.1 billion euros over 10 years. "This does not even meet today's needs. In the meantime, there will be more than 20% of patients who will need it with the aging population," predicts the MP. "I fear that in 10 years, we will find ourselves in roughly the same situation with one in two patients without access to palliative care."

Finally, the MP praised the climate of the debates in the National Assembly. "First of all, there was a respectful debate because all positions on the matter are respectable," he said. He considered the text "balanced," with "a certain number of safeguards."