French Parliament Approves Landmark Assisted Dying Bill

On Wednesday, French legislators passed a bill that legalizes medically assisted dying for patients with terminal illnesses.

After more than two years of political negotiation, the National Assembly, France’s lower house, adopted the bill with a vote of 291 to 241, overturning prior rejections in the Senate, where conservatives maintain a majority.

“We are discussing women and men condemned to die by their illness, patients enduring unbearable suffering, individuals who know death is imminent,” said centrist lawmaker Brigitte Liso, who helped draft the legislation, during the debate. “This law represents a liberty that corrects existing injustices.”

The legislation marks one of France’s most significant social reforms in decades, placing the nation among the few countries that have legalized a form of medically assisted death.

The law permits physicians to assist adult patients in ending their lives, provided the patients meet the following criteria:

• French nationals or residents living in France on a stable and regular basis.

• Suffering from an incurable, fatal condition at an advanced or terminal stage.

A physician and a specialist panel will have 15 days to evaluate the request. If approved, the patient must wait at least 48 hours before proceeding. The patient must self‑administer the lethal substance, unless physical incapacity prevents it, in which case a doctor or nurse may administer it.

Previously, French law allowed terminally ill patients to refuse treatment but prohibited doctors from actively helping them die. Families of comatose patients could also decide to withdraw life support.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu stated earlier this week that, should the bill become law, he would submit it to the Constitutional Council for a conformity review.

If the Council approves, France will join a small group of nations that have legalized or partially legalized assisted dying. Switzerland pioneered the practice in 1942 and remained an outlier until Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain enacted similar laws over the past 25 years. In the United States, assisted dying is permitted in roughly a dozen states.

Support for the measure has grown in France since the early 2000s, sparked by the case of Vincent Humbert—a young man left paralyzed, mute, and blind after a car crash—who campaigned for the right to die and captured national attention.

The bill faces opposition from religious groups and some healthcare professionals. Last month, a rally against the legislation drew nearly 4,000 protesters in Paris, according to local media.

Senate opponents argue the legislation needs additional safeguards. Senate President Gérard Larcher told Le Figaro last week, “There are many reservations about this bill, and deep divisions remain.”

In a recent op‑ed for Le Figaro, celebrated yet controversial novelist Michel Houellebecq wrote, “I cannot help but think that by demanding access to euthanasia for its citizens, France is essentially calling for its own euthanasia.”

President Emmanuel Macron had pledged to legalize assisted dying during his 2022 re‑election campaign. When the government introduced a bill in 2024 to fulfill that promise, he told journalists it would require “humility to navigate, evolve, and accept that one’s convictions may be challenged.”

Following the bill’s adoption on Wednesday, Macron posted on social media that his promise had been kept “with solemnity, humility, and full respect for our democracy.”

“On this deeply personal and serious matter concerning life, suffering, and dignity, the only appropriate course was to take the time to listen, engage in dialogue, and hold a debate,” he added.

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