France’s National Assembly adopts long-debated bill legalizing end-of-life options

PARIS (AP) — France’s lower house of parliament adopted a bill Tuesday to allow adults with incurable illness to take lethal medication, as public demands grow across Europe for legal end-of-life options.

The National Assembly vote is a key legislative step on the long-debated issue.

“I’m thinking of all the patients and their loved ones. There are days, you know, you will never forget. I will never forget this day,” said Olivier Falorni, the general rapporteur of the bill, amid applause from fellow lawmakers.

The bill received 305 votes in favor and 199 against. It will be sent to the Senate for further debate. A definitive vote on the measure could take months to be scheduled amid France’s long and complex process. The National Assembly has final say over the Senate.

In parallel, another bill on palliative care meant to reinforce measures to relieve pain and preserve patients’ dignity was also adopted Tuesday, unanimously.

The proposed measure on lethal medication defines assisted dying as allowing people to use it 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 has strict conditions

To benefit, 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 deliver a prescription for the lethal medication, which could be taken at home or at a nursing home or a health care facility.

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.

Months-long debate ahead

Earlier this month, Macron suggested he could ask 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 this month issued 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 vote in France came 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.