French National Assembly Approves Assisted Dying for Terminal Patients
French National Assembly. X/ @PiQSuite
May 27, 2025 Hour: 2:36 pm
The bill granting adults the right to euthanasia was backed by 305 out of 561 legislators in the lower house.
On Tuesday, the French National Assembly approved on first reading a bill that legalizes and regulates euthanasia for the first time, allowing it for terminally ill patients experiencing unbearable suffering.
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The vote resulted in 305 in favor and 199 against. The “Right to Assisted Dying” text will now move to the Senate in the fall, before returning to the Assembly for a second reading, likely in early 2026.
“There is still a long road ahead” in Parliament, Health Minister Catherine Vautrin acknowledged after the vote. She expressed her commitment to continue seeking “the broadest possible consensus.”
Unanimously, all 561 French lawmakers approved a separate bill to ensure access to palliative care for all patients in need.
The text reads, “Historic! We have just adopted a law in the National Assembly to open up the right to assisted dying. Supported by Mélenchon since 1999 and included in the La France Insoumise program since 2012, we have never given up this fight. Today is a victory for freedom and the dignity of the human condition!”
The euthanasia bill received support from the entire left-wing bloc and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance. It was opposed by the conservative right, though with exceptions, as political groups allowed their members to vote freely.
The legislative proposal has faced a complicated journey that began in 2022 and was interrupted by early elections in 2024. The new law opens the possibility of receiving active assistance in dying for patients with serious or incurable conditions in the advanced stages of illness, who are enduring unbearable suffering and are able to freely express their will up to the day of the procedure.
This excludes patients in comas or those with advanced Alzheimer’s disease who may have previously requested euthanasia but are no longer capable of giving explicit consent at the time the life-ending drugs are administered—unlike in other European countries where euthanasia is already legal.
The text reads, “Being a doctor means, above all, being a humanist. As a sponsor of the End of Life Bill, I defended the right of a patient requesting assistance in dying to freely choose whether to self-administer the substance or have a doctor administer the lethal substance if they so desire.”
The request must be reviewed within 15 days by a panel of doctors in a collegial process. If approved, a two-day reflection period follows, during which the patient can withdraw their request. After that, the procedure must be carried out within a maximum of three months.
The text states that patients must self-administer the lethal substance provided by a medical professional. If they are unable to do so, the physician would administer it.
Supporters of euthanasia argue that the bill does not go far enough and imposes too many barriers. Nevertheless, lawmakers backing the right to assisted dying supported the bill, considering it an improvement over the current situation.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE