Press release – Monday 16th February 2026
End of life : Demonstration by several associations demanding care, not euthanasia
Joint association action against euthanasia and assisted suicide
On Monday 16th February, a demonstration took place close to the National Assembly, called by Alliance VITA, Fondation Jérôme Lejeune, Associations Familiales Catholiques (AFC), the Protestant Evangelical Committee for Human Dignity (CPDH) and Fondation OCH demanding effective access to palliative care and rejecting the legalisation of assisted suicide and euthanasia.
A symbolic scenography
Parading with “Vote for care, not euthanasia” banners, the demonstrators formed a long queue to illustrate the absurdity of a system which is considering ready access to death whereas access to healthcare remains inadequate.
Three spokespeople also provided testimonies, each based on their personal experience: Jean Fontant, a palliative care doctor, Caroline Brandicourt, a patient suffering from a neuro-degenerative disease, and Véronique Bourgninaud, a carer.
In support of an end-of-life policy based on solidarity
The demonstration was organised at a time when the parliamentary debate on the end of life has been rushed through by the government, to the detriment of the true national priorities. Whereas the health system is floundering in a profound and durable crisis, when access to palliative care remains variable and when many in France have difficulty in obtaining essential treatments, the legalisation of assisted suicide and euthanasia appears as unfair as it is irresponsible.
The first response by next of kin, families, helpers and carers, must always be to support those who suffer, not to precipitate their death. The concrete rule of action for a carer should never consist in deliberately causing the death of a person.
The legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide generates major risks for society and for healthcare: it undermines suicide prevention, breaches the pact of trust established between carers and patients, stigmatises the most vulnerable and particularly endangers those suffering from mental disorders. The latter, who are already confronting difficulty in accessing healthcare, would be particularly exposed to the possible abuses of assistance in dying, as has been shown by examples in France and in nations where euthanasia has been legalised.
In reaction, the associations are calling on MPs to reaffirm their refusal of euthanasia and assisted suicide, and to guarantee universal access to palliative care — through full application of the 1999 law and by adoption of a dedicated programming law — and to reinforce suicide prevention, without excluding the most vulnerable, dependent or aged. They are moreover calling on the Prime Minister to suspend the examination of the proposed bill. Priority must be given to healthcare and the protection of the most vulnerable, rather than the legalisation of administered death.
Press contacts
Alliance VITA : Claire-Anne Brulé – claire-anne.brule@alliancevita.org – 06 67 77 14 80
Fondation Lejeune : Isaure Lenoan – presse@fondationlejeune.org – 06 47 95 66 60
AFC : Benoît Hautier – b.hautier@afc-france.org – 07 66 42 72 33
CPDH : contact@cpdh.org – 06 08 06 70 83
Fondation OCH : Marie du Passage – communication@och.fr – 06 82 88 26 08
About Alliance VITA
For over 30 years, Alliance VITA has been on a mission promoting dignity and protecting human life. With a network of over 1,000 committed voluntary members, the association is represented all over France. Its actions are based around three themes:
- Listening to those confronting the hardships of life through its 3 help lines.
- Instruction to inform the public on the bioethical stakes.
- Mobilisation for solidarity with the most vulnerable.
Alliance VITA intercedes with national, European and international authorities. The association enjoys a special status with the UN economic and social council.
About Fondation Jérôme Lejeune
Fondation Jérôme Lejeune is the principal incubator and prime private funder of research into Down’s syndrome worldwide, acting for those suffering from Down’s syndrome or any other genetically caused intellectual deficiency. Devoted to the service of patients and their families, it pursues three missions:
- Treating patients suffering from Down’s syndrome or any other intellectual deficiency, by funding medical consultations at the Jérôme Lejeune institute.
- Research into treatments to correct intellectual deficiency and to improve the autonomy of patients
- Defending their dignity and the value of all human life.
Active in 4 nations, it has been state approved since 1996 and enjoys ECOSOC status with the UN.
About AFC Association Familiales Catholiques
Since 1905, AFC has been the voice of families. In 2024, it represented 51,000 families distributed throughout the French territories, including overseas, and constitutes a network of some 280 associations assembled into 71 departmental federations within the national confederation. The network intervenes for families both locally and nationally through:
- Meetings with political decision-makers (ministers, MPs, mayors etc.), to express the voice of all families.
- Concrete services to families in the fields of education, consumption, conjugality, health etc.
- Hundreds of representations with institutions, economic deciders or the health system.
The AFC are founded on the social thinking of the Church which defines the family as the basic cell of society. The Confédération Nationale des AFC (CNAFC) has been a member of UNAF (Union Nationale des Associations Familiales) since its creation, in 1945. It represents families at the CESE (Conseil Économique Social et Environnemental) and is a member of HCFEA (Haut Conseil de la Famille, de l’Enfance et de l’Age).
Since 1987, CNAFC has been approved as a national association for the defence of consumers. In 2022, it boasted 24 local consumption agencies assisting consumers in disputes encountered with companies. CNAFC is a founding member of Fédération des AFC en Europe (FAFCE), established in 1997.
With 27 member organisations from 21 European states, it is a force of positive action for families with the European institutions. CNAFC has been state approved since 2004. Since 2008 it holds national approval as an association of health system users.
About Comité Protestant évangélique pour la Dignité Humaine (CPDH)
The Protestant Evangelical Committee for Human Dignity (CPDH) is established to promote respect for human dignity, the defence and protection of the rights of children, women and mankind in general as well as the protection of the right to live for all human beings. Such respect for human dignity has led CPDH to become involved in the action against any temptation of modification to the French law intending to introduce a right to assisted suicide or euthanasia.
CPDH is a member of the Conseil National des évangéliques de France (CNEF).
About Fondation OCH
Fondation OCH acts on behalf of the handicapped, the sick or those suffering from psychic disorders as well as their loved ones.
- By listening to them all
- By creating opportunities to meet
- By providing testimonies of the dignity, the fertility and the talents of all people irrespective of their handicap and their fragilities.
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