Assisted Dying Law Approved by France’s MPs

France’s National Assembly has passed a bill to create a right to assisted dying, with strict safeguards, after years of debate and repeated reversals in the upper house.

MPs voted 291 to 241 to approve the measure, which had previously been rejected three times by the Senate. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is expected to refer parts of the bill to France’s Constitutional Council to determine whether it complies with the constitution before it can become law.

Eligibility and safeguards

The legislation would allow assisted dying for French adults with a “serious and incurable” illness that is life-threatening and in an advanced or terminal stage. It would require that the condition leaves the person in constant physical or psychological suffering that is unbearable and resistant to treatment.

The patient would have to make a request to a doctor, expressing their intention freely. After consultation, the doctor would decide within 15 days.

Two-step confirmation and administration

Once the doctor has agreed that the criteria are met, the patient would be given a two-day period to reflect, after which they would confirm their request again.

The final step would involve the patient administering a lethal substance themselves. If they were unable to do so, a doctor or nurse could carry out the administration. The decision to proceed would also need to be verified by the physician on the day of the procedure.

Constitutional review and political delay

Wednesday’s vote means France could join a number of European countries that have decriminalised assisted dying in some form.

On the eve of the vote, Lecornu said he intended to submit provisions of the bill to the Constitutional Council, a nine-member body that checks whether laws comply with the constitution.

President Emmanuel Macron has previously backed end-of-life legislation, but the process was delayed after he called snap elections two years ago. Since 2024, French prime ministers have shown greater reluctance to advance the assisted dying bill, and Lecornu is known to have reservations about its terms.

Ahead of the vote, Lecornu’s office said the National Assembly had debated the bill extensively, but that the Senate had not allowed scrutiny that addressed “both the aspirations of its supporters and concerns of those worried about its implementation”.

It said the constitutional review should focus on three specific elements: whether the two-day reflection period is too short; whether patients protected under the law but with impaired judgement can still give free and informed consent; and the role of health and social care facilities in providing assisted dying services, given their stated mission to deliver palliative care for those who are terminally ill.

European context and UK debate

The assisted dying issue has been highly contentious in France, with opposition from the Catholic Church and parts of the medical profession. Despite the political conflict, opinion polls have indicated that a large majority of people in France support giving terminally ill patients a choice between palliative care and assisted dying.

Similar arguments have played out elsewhere in Europe. The UK’s bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales stalled earlier this year and is due to return to Parliament in September.

In the Netherlands and Belgium, assisted dying has been legal since 2002 for people with unbearable suffering from incurable illness, with the practice carried out under a physician’s oversight. Switzerland has long allowed assisted suicide where the person who helps acts unselfishly.

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16 July 2026

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