France's National Assembly to vote on long-debated bill legalizing
end-of-life options
[May 27, 2025]
By SYLVIE CORBET
PARIS (AP) — France’s lower house of parliament, the National Assembly,
is voting Tuesday on a bill to allow adults with incurable illness to
take lethal medication, as public demands grow across Europe for legal
end-of-life options.
Tuesday's vote, expected in the late afternoon, is a key legislative
step on the contentious and long-debated issue. If approved by a
majority of lawmakers, the bill will be sent to the Senate for further
debate.
The proposed measure defines assisted dying as allowing people to use a
lethal substance under certain conditions so that they may take it
themselves. Only those whose physical condition doesn’t allow them to do
it alone would be able to get help from a doctor or a nurse.
The bill provides for strict conditions
To benefit from the newly proposed measure, patients would need to be
over 18 and be French citizens or live in France.
A team of medical professionals would need to confirm that the patient
has a grave and incurable illness “at an advanced or terminal stage,” is
suffering from intolerable and untreatable pain, and is seeking lethal
medication of their own free will.
Patients with severe psychiatric conditions and neurodegenerative
disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease won’t be eligible.
The person would initiate the request for lethal medication and confirm
the request after a period of reflection.
If approved, a doctor would then deliver a prescription for the lethal
medication, which could be taken at home, at a nursing home or a health
care facility.
In parallel, another bill on palliative care meant to reinforce measures
to relieve pain and preserve patients' dignity will also be put to a
vote Tuesday.
A 2023 report indicated that most French citizens back legalizing
end-of-life options, and opinion polls show growing support over the
past 20 years. Initial discussions in parliament last year were abruptly
interrupted by President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve the
National Assembly, plunging France into a months-long political crisis.
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 Months-long debate still ahead
A definitive vote on the measure could take months to be scheduled
amid France’s long and complex legislative process. The National
Assembly has the final say over the Senate.
Earlier this month, Macron suggested he could ask
for French voters to approve the measure via referendum if
parliament discussions get off track.
Activists supporting the change have criticized the complexity and
length of the parliamentary process that they say is penalizing
patients waiting for end-of-life options.
Many French people have traveled to neighboring countries where
medically assisted suicide or euthanasia are legal.
The Association for the Right to Die with Dignity (ADMD) has called
on French lawmakers “to respect the French who want the same right
that our Dutch, Belgian, Luxembourgian, Swiss, Spanish, Portuguese
neighbors have.”
French religious leaders issued this month a joint statement to
denounce the bill, warning about the “dangers” of an
“anthropological rupture.” The Conference of Religious Leaders in
France (CRCF), which represents the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant,
Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist communities, said the proposed measures
risk exerting pressure on older people and those with illnesses or
disabilities.
Similar talks in the U.K.
The debate in France comes as similar talks are ongoing in the U.K.,
where lawmakers are debating a bill to help terminally ill adults
end their lives in England and Wales after giving it initial
approval in November.
Medically assisted suicide involves patients taking, of their own
free will, a lethal drink or medication that has been prescribed by
a doctor to those who meet certain criteria. Euthanasia involves
doctors or other health practitioners giving patients who meet
certain criteria a lethal injection at their own request.
Assisted suicide is allowed in Switzerland and several U.S. states.
Euthanasia is currently legal in the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal,
Canada, Australia, Colombia, Belgium and Luxembourg under certain
conditions.
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