INTERVIEW – The dissolution of the National Assembly postponed the vote on the end-of-life law, sparking relief among its opponents. The neuropediatrician Vincent des Portes, head of department at Lyon University Hospital, believes that the debate on assisted suicide and euthanasia has opened a breach which will not close, calling on all deputies to take a position.
LE FIGARO. – Your pediatric department welcomes more and more adolescents who have attempted suicide because the child psychiatry department is saturated. Suicidal thoughts among 18-24 year olds doubled between 2014 and 2021. Why this increase?
Vincent DES PORTES. – Many of our teenagers and young adults wonder what world they live in. They are overwhelmed by ecoanxiety and are hyperstressed by fake news emanating from social networks in often fragile families. The recent Drees report from May 2024 shows an unprecedented increase in hospitalizations for self-inflicted acts among adolescents and young women in 2021 and 2022. We are observing this in all our hospitals.
What impact did this bill on assisted dying and the debate that accompanied it have on these young people?
Young people have a real thirst for meaning to give to their lives. By planning to legalize assisted suicide, society has sent them an ambiguous message…
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