France's National Assembly Votes on Right to Assisted Suicide

Children, people with disabilities, or those without residency in France cannot access assisted dying, according to the report. Euthanasia on request is to remain possible only in exceptional cases. Doctors are not obliged to carry out assisted suicide, but in such cases must refer patients to another provider.

While the National Assembly voted in favor of the law, the Senate, regarded as conservative, rejected it three times. The law passed three readings in both the National Assembly and the Senate. After a joint mediation committee of both chambers failed in early June, the government gave the National Assembly the final word, as the constitution allows.

Political Context and Macron's Agenda

The vote, held in the afternoon, was held without a party whip, allowing deputies to decide according to their personal ethical convictions. The general rapporteur for the cross-party draft is Philippe Vigier of the centrist MoDem party. "We developed the wording together with scientists and specialists," according to those close to the initiators.

For President Emmanuel Macron, it is about fulfilling an election promise for his second and final term in office. It is likely to be the last major sociopolitical project of the outgoing French president. In 2022, Macron convened the "Convention citoyenne sur la fin de vie" (Citizens' Convention on End of Life) with around 180 members, which between 2022 and 2023 developed guidelines for a reform of assisted dying.

In most European states, at least one form of assisted dying is permitted. The legal situation varies within the EU and is confusing. It is up to the member states to resolve these questions themselves. According to the EU Parliament, in some European countries, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain, so-called active euthanasia, also referred to as "killing on request," is permitted. In this case, the life-ending substance is administered by a third party, usually a doctor.

European Comparison

This form of assisted dying is also generally permitted under certain circumstances in other European countries, for example in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Some European countries, such as Ireland and Malta, are currently working on legislation on assisted dying. In the United Kingdom, the legalization of assisted dying has failed for the time being. Alongside these forms, there is also indirect assisted dying, in which the hastening of death may be a side effect of pain-relieving medication, or passive assisted dying, in which life-sustaining measures are discontinued in accordance with the patient's wishes.

According to the report, French patients also travel to Belgium and Switzerland to access assisted dying. Around 25 percent of his patients come from France, says Belgian doctor Francois Damas in an interview with DW. The Belgian has been accompanying terminally ill patients to death for over 20 years. For him, the new law primarily opens up a dialogue between doctors and patients about dying. Until now, the "rule of the unspeakable" has applied there.

Arguments of Supporters and Critics

An IFOP survey commissioned by an association advocating for the right to assisted suicide also found that a majority of doctors in France support the project. An IFOP survey from February had also found that nearly nine out of ten respondents were in favor of introducing some form of active euthanasia. Nathalie Berriau, a former member of the Citizens' Convention, recounted that a hospice employee had told her: "The person I spoke to said: 'We have already organized trips to Belgium'"

Criticism came in particular from the French Bishops' Conference, which spoke out clearly against the law and had criticized in advance that the narrow margins in the parliamentary chambers reflected the "clear division" in society. Senator Christine Bonfanti-Dossat of the conservative party Les Républicains described the project as "an abdication: of accompaniment, care, and solidarity." Opponents of the reform have announced protest events on the evening of the vote.

Belgian doctor Francois Damas rejects this criticism. He does not believe that disabled or seriously ill people would feel compelled by the possibility of assisted dying to make use of it. It is the decision of patients, made together with their families. Moreover, high protective measures are provided.

Disability rights activists Lilli Guigueno and Nikola Dobric fear in a DW interview that these people could feel compelled to resort to assisted dying, even if they are not terminally ill. Their will is shaped above all by how society views people with disabilities.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, a critic of the reform, wants to refer the law to the Constitutional Council for review. A referral to the Constitutional Council would delay the law's entry into force.

In Germany, the Telefonseelsorge (crisis hotline) is available toll-free at 0800/111 0 111 and 0800/111 0 222. Tessa Walther contributed to this report.