France set to legalise assisted dying pending assembly vote

FRANCE IS SET to move closer to joining the ranks of countries that guarantee the right to assisted dying, after the long journey to adoption of a controversial bill championed by President Emmanuel Macron.

The lower house of the French parliament is expected to vote to adopt the law at the end of the day on Wednesday, despite critics still urging a fight to keep it off the books.

But the adoption will not mark the end of its legislative and judicial path, with Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu asking France’s Constitutional Council, the highest constitutional authority, to examine the legislation after it is passed.

The path to the final vote was “a marathon with hurdles”, the bill’s author Olivier Falorni, a former lawmaker-turned-mayor, told AFP.

The vote, which Falorni will attend, is “the culmination of a struggle” after “14 years of parliamentary battles on this issue”, he said.

The law easily passed the National Assembly but was rejected by the Senate upper chamber, with the government permitting the lower house to have the final say without the Senate’s assent, as allowed by the constitution.

Lecornu’s office said that the Constitutional Council had been called in after the lack of debate in the right-wing dominated Senate meant the text fell short of a draft “meeting both the aspirations of its proponents and the concerns of those worried about its implementation”.

The Council, whose rulings are binding, can in extreme cases declare an entire piece of legislation invalid or can express reservations about certain sections.

Right-wing heavyweights from the traditional right Republicans party (LR) that dominates the Senate, such as Senate speaker Gerard Larcher and former interior minister Bruno Retailleau, have staunchly opposed the legislation.

Advertisement

‘Balanced’ or ‘very dangerous’?

The law would establish a right to assisted dying subject to conditions. Reserved for adults, it would be accessible to patients suffering from an incurable condition.

They must be capable of expressing themselves in a “free and informed” manner and be suffering from physical pain.

This pain must either be unresponsive to treatment or, in the patient’s view, unbearable, where they have chosen not to receive or to stop receiving treatment.

A physician will be responsible for verifying the patient’s eligibility, before a panel assesses the criteria. Ultimately, the doctor makes the decision alone, and the patient may withdraw consent at any time.

The patient will administer a lethal substance themselves, with exceptions for those who are physically unable to be helped by a health worker.

The law “will be passed because it is balanced,” said Agnes Firmin Le Bodo, a centre-right lawmaker and former health minister who drafted the 2024 bill.

But opponents of the law have no intention of admitting defeat.

Lawmaker Christophe Bentz of the far-right National Rally (RN) party said the text remains “very dangerous” and carries the risk of “abuses”.

Religious groups and organisations that campaign against abortion and euthanasia are expected to protest on the day of the vote near the National Assembly.

Macron had promised an assisted dying law when he was re-elected for a second term in 2022, in a change seen as one of the most important social reforms since France allowed same-sex marriage in 2012.

If the law is adopted, France will join the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada in legalising assisted dying.