Catherine Vautrin, Minister of Health, on assisted dying: "I'm on a tightrope like a tightrope walker"

"There she is, Simone!" Catherine Vautrin grabs a book from under a pile of books in her large corner office with a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower. On the cover, a photo of Simone Veil (1927-2017), as a young woman. The Minister of Labor, Health, Solidarity, and Families rarely misses an opportunity to recount her ties with the minister who gave her name to the law on voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG) in 1975, whom she met in 2004, and who supported her in certain elections in her stronghold of Reims. And who remains her role model. "Can you imagine what it must have been like for Simone to defend IVG at the time?" she exclaims. Should this be seen as a personal projection? "I'm not a Simone Veil with small feet ," Catherine Vautrin sweeps aside, over a Diet Coke on May 7. I don't have that pretension!"

Yet she dares to make the connection. "There are meetings with society that we cannot afford to miss. This was the case with abortion. It's the same with the law on the end of life , she continues. We must show ourselves capable of meeting societal expectations, while respecting life. And aware that the decision that will be made at the end will remain dizzying."

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