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French MPs voted on Wednesday to adopt a law allowing the right to assisted dying for some terminally ill adults under strict rules.
The lower chamber backed the law, with 291 voting for it and 241 against. The country’s highest constitutional authority still has to examine the law.
With its adoption, France joins 11 countries that have also adopted assisted dying laws, each with their own rules and criteria.
The bill was one of the flagship pledges of French President Emmanuel Macron’s second five-year term, which he described as “the French model for end-of-life care.”
“The bill on the right to assisted dying has been adopted,” Macron wrote on X.
“On an issue as personal as it is profound, touching on life, suffering and dignity, only one approach was possible: taking the time to listen, engage in dialogue and debate.”
Many French people have travelled to neighbouring countries where assisted suicide or euthanasia are legal.
The bill sets strict conditions
The bill primarily provides for medically assisted suicide, allowing eligible patients to receive and self-administer lethal medication under strict conditions. Only those physically unable to do so would be allowed to receive assistance from a doctor or nurse.
Patients seeking to end their lives would have to be at least 18 years old and either French citizens or legal residents of France.
A doctor would first have to consult a team of healthcare professionals before confirming that the patient has a serious, incurable and life-threatening illness. The patient must be at an advanced or terminal stage, experiencing unbearable pain that cannot be relieved, and requesting the medication of their own free will.
Psychological suffering alone would not qualify a person for medically assisted dying, and people with severe psychiatric disorders or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s would not be eligible.
Patients would have to submit a request, which would be reviewed by healthcare professionals within 15 days and confirmed after a mandatory reflection period of at least two days.
If approved, they could take the medication at a time and place of their choosing, including at home or in a healthcare facility, with loved ones present if they wish.
On the chosen date, a doctor or nurse would confirm that the patient still wishes to proceed and remain nearby if complications arise. All associated costs would be covered by France’s national health insurance system.
In France, supporters say the law would allow patients to end unbearable suffering while keeping control over medical decisions.
However, opponents warn it could place pressure on older people and those with illnesses or disabilities, arguing that access to palliative care should be prioritised instead.
End-of-life options are also being debated in the United Kingdom.
A bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales will formally return to Parliament on 11 September, five months after it ran out of time during Parliament’s last session.
In Germany, the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, considered two proposals to regulate assisted dying in 2023, rejecting both.
Medically assisted suicide generally involves a patient voluntarily taking lethal medication prescribed by a doctor. Euthanasia involves a doctor or other health care professional administering a lethal injection at the patient’s request.
Additional sources • AFP
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