France is set to pass an assisted-dying bill. Ending years of debate over end-of-life care, the National Assembly — France’s lower house — was due to give final approval on Wednesday to the bill, which will grant terminally ill adults the legal right, under strict rules, to take lethal medication to end their own lives. The news was reported by the Associated Press (AP).
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the legislation more than three years ago. Having passed the lower house three times already, the bill was expected to secure final approval this time too. The Senate, the upper house, where conservatives hold a majority, had rejected the bill; but under France’s legislative process, when the two chambers disagree, the lower house’s decision is final.
Senate President Gérard Larcher has said that once the bill passes he will refer it to the Constitutional Council, which may take up to a month to check whether it conflicts with the constitution. Only after that process will the law take effect.
To qualify under the law, an applicant must be at least 18 years old and a French citizen or legal resident. The patient must be suffering from a serious, incurable illness that poses a grave threat to life and has reached a final stage at which the physical suffering is unbearable and cannot be relieved by any treatment.
Applications cannot be made on grounds of mental suffering or depression alone, and people with severe mental illness or conditions such as Alzheimer’s will not fall under the law. The patient must apply entirely of their own free and independent will. A team of health professionals will review the application within 15 days, and after approval the patient will be given at least two days to reconsider.
This is essentially physician-assisted suicide, in which the patient takes the lethal medication themselves. Only if the patient is physically unable to do so may a doctor or nurse directly help administer it. After approval, the patient may take the medication at any time, at home or at a medical centre, in the presence of loved ones as they wish.
Even at the final moment, a doctor or nurse will reconfirm the patient’s consent and remain nearby to avoid complications. The entire cost of the process will be borne by France’s national health-insurance system. According to a 2023 report, most people in France support the end-of-life law, and public backing for it has grown over the past two decades.
The Association for the Right to Die with Dignity welcomed the bill, saying it would give people the free right to escape unbearable suffering. But the opposing organisation Alliance Vita, in an open letter to President Macron, said death could never be a solution to suffering.
In its view, the sick, the elderly and people with disabilities could come under indirect pressure as a result. Until now, lacking this right, many French citizens travelled to neighbouring countries such as Switzerland or Belgium, where assisted dying was already legal. Countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Canada and Australia currently allow assisted dying under specified conditions.
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