Assembly Readies Vote to Create Legal Right to Aid to Die

Overview

• The Assemblée nationale finished third‑reading revisions and is due to vote on Tuesday, June 30, on a text that would enshrine a right to aid to die under Parliament’s terms.
• Eligibility requires five cumulative criteria: the person must be an adult, a French national or stable resident, suffer an advanced incurable illness that endangers life, experience suffering tied to that illness, and be able to express a free and informed will.
• The final draft restores patient self‑administration as the rule, allows a third party to administer only in cases of total physical incapacity, and preserves the option for physicians to perform euthanasia in exceptional circumstances.
• Lawmakers rejected a collective clause of conscience for private or faith‑based institutions and removed a proposed criminal offence for obstructing access, while several proposed safeguards—mandatory guaranteed palliative access, longer reflection periods, and stricter discernment checks—were also turned down.
• Opponents including healthcare professionals and religious institutions have mobilised with protests and petitions to sway undecided deputies, and the bill is expected to be rejected by the Sénat before returning to the Assembly for a definitive vote on July 15.