Le JDD: "Euthanasia: Louis de Bourbon's appeal against a civilizational tipping point".

In the midst of the political fever surrounding the end-of-life bill, I want, once again, to let France hear the voice of the political tradition and the age-old morality on which it is based. As head of the House of Bourbon, I am fully committed to this tradition. And it is my duty to ensure that it is not an anecdotal remnant of our past, but a guide that enlightens and directs our actions.

What is being prepared in Parliament constitutes a new anthropological break that I firmly condemn. I condemn it because, in the long term, it is detrimental to France and the French people. In January 2024, I had already expressed all my fears and reservations about the text that was being prepared.

Unfortunately, reality has gone beyond what I, like all good people, imagined. The amendments adopted within the framework of the law sign the act of abdication of our entire society in the face of vulnerability, suffering and weakness. The final nail in the coffin of European civilization, built on the enlightenment of Christianity and humanism, is about to be hammered into the ground, amid a certain indifference on the part of the media and politicians.

Political decision-makers bear a heavy responsibility towards humanity as a whole. And it is not by disguising the assisted suicide they are about to vote for under the mask of pseudo-fraternity that they will escape the tribunal of history and their conscience. I would like to remind them of this, so that they realize the seriousness of the act they are about to commit.

In a country marked by significant social progress and a highly-developed healthcare system, it is distressing to note that cowardice will be chosen over courage, profitability over sacrifice. For there is no doubt that abject accounting logic is at work among the underlying motivations. The most vulnerable people will be asked to understand that they are too many, that they weigh too heavily on our economy.

Little by little, a certain hygienist model of society is being proposed, in which weakness, the unexpected and imperfection will no longer be tolerated. Life and nature as a whole will be rejected. And here too, as we well know, under the guise of humanism and freedom, this law will further exacerbate inequalities. While the well-to-do may be lucky enough to reach palliative care units, the poorest will have only death as an alternative to their suffering. A striking contrast for the French Republic, which claims to be the champion of equality.

Words have been emptied of meaning to facilitate their use, moral values have been evacuated to facilitate decision-making, and the remnants of our Judeo-Christian civilization have been dispersed to facilitate the advent of the individual-king. We no longer reason as a society, but as the sum of individuals, each with their own desires, anxieties and problems. And may the strongest win! That's the new credo of our hyper-consumerist society.

My monarchical heritage would like to convince my compatriots that other paths are possible. That there is still so much to be done to develop palliative care, that we still have so much to learn from these people who are suffering, who do not want to die, but to whom we do not give a voice and whose testimony we refuse to hear. This law is not just a matter for individuals. It is the business of French society in all its components, for today and for tomorrow.

What do we want for our country? For our generation and those to come? And if those to whom I am speaking want to reason only in a selfish way, I want to remind them that they are the sufferers, the handicapped and the elderly of tomorrow. Perhaps they will then realize that the call of Life, even in these most vulnerable moments, remains immense.

Finally, I'd also like to speak out on behalf of the carers who are ignored and ignored too much. They who are totally devoted to serving the sick and suffering, who practice their profession with passion and humanity, who deal with life and death every day. Don't give up on your ethics: they are your honor. It is the thin but imposing bulwark that separates our civilization from a slippery slope, where life risks gradually losing its value, and compassion becomes confused with abandonment.

This bulwark is the refusal to consider human life as a mere adjustment variable, as a burden to be relieved by erasure. It's the choice to care rather than give in, to support rather than rush. You carry, sometimes in the shadows, an immense part of what makes up the dignity of our society. Stand firm in your integrity and honor: the French are behind you.

I appeal to doctors, philosophers, believers and their pastors, community leaders and all those who know the value of suffering, care and fragility. Refuse this shift. And more broadly, I'm not speaking to every French person, but to France itself. Let's choose not to weigh up the value of human life, not to open up to a system of death, and above all not to mark the end of our ancient civilization. Indeed, it is civilization that will be the first victim of this law. May Saint Louis enlighten our leaders and political decision-makers.

Read the article on www.lejdd.fr

Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou

May 27, 2025