Audrey V., 20, is one of some 180 citizens drawn by lot by a polling institute, a choice weighted by considerations of age or geographical origin to obtain a panel representative of the diversity of society.

"Surprised" to have been contacted, this business student "said yes quickly".

"It's an experience that only happens once in a lifetime!" She enthuses between the columns of the intimidating hypostyle hall of the Palais d'Iéna, seat of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council. (Cese) in Paris.

The young woman readily admits having "no knowledge of the laws and procedures in force".

But precisely, it is this "unknown territory" which seems to him "interesting".

During nine three-day weekends, these citizens will learn, listen to experts and debate on euthanasia, assisted suicide, palliative care and the complex ethical issues surrounding them.

In March, they will have to answer the question: "Is the end-of-life support framework adapted to the different situations encountered or should any changes be introduced?".

Bintou M. did not hesitate to lend himself to this exercise of citizen participation, which "touches the human on a sensitive subject".

"A non-practicing Muslim", she "does not arrive with conviction" but with "questions", bearing in mind her sick old father, living in Mali.

This 44-year-old consultant wonders in particular about advance directives, these written instructions which allow you to express your will on the medical decisions to be made at the end of life.

"Are they permanent? For me, it is difficult to + stamp them + once and for all", confides this resident of the Paris region.

"Human adventure"

At 70, Clarisse F. was "super happy" to be drawn.

Coming from a "bourgeois family background", this retiree sees in it the "chance" to benefit from "nourishing intellectual time".

Will this "practicing Catholic" have in mind the Church's hostility to any "active assistance in dying"?

"I do not forge my convictions at all on my beliefs" on this subject which is "universal", specifies the Bordelaise before rushing into the hemicycle.

There, before this "Parliament" of civil society, the former socialist deputy Alain Claeys comes to present the legislative framework for the end of life, made up of four laws since 1999. The one in force, which bears his name and that of the ex-deputy LR Jean Leonetti, has provided since 2016 for "deep sedation" for the terminally ill and inexhaustible suffering, but does not authorize euthanasia or assisted suicide.

Should this framework be changed?

If "your opinion will be our compass", it is the Parliament which will have "the responsibility to decide", underlines in front of the 180 French people the president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet.

In the spans, one of the citizens asks to speak to admit to being "perplexed" and "skeptical" about the results of this work, while the executive has only implemented some of the recommendations of the convention on the climate.

The convention will not make the law, "that, we understood", smiles Nathalie B, 56, leaving the room.

This librarian, however, would like France "not to miss the boat" of a legislative evolution, whereas today "the medical profession does not respond to a small fraction of painful" situations.

But Nathalie is ready to "change her mind" during this "human adventure" of the citizens' convention.

By nurturing the hope, "on a subject that affects us all, to find the right balance between what is acceptable and what is possible".

© 2022 AFP