France’s End‑of‑Life Overhaul Hits Senate Roadblock as Palliative‑Care Law Passes

Overview

• France’s Senate, in a second rejection Tuesday, voted down the central article that would create a legal right to request aid to die.
• Parliament finalized Monday a separate law to expand palliative care, adding care plans, new hospice‑style homes, and more training, while dropping an enforceable individual right to such care.
• A cross‑party commission mixte paritaire is likely in the coming weeks, and if no compromise emerges the government can return the text to the National Assembly for a final vote before the summer recess, a timeline President Emmanuel Macron supports.
• Senate leaders including Bruno Retailleau call a final Assembly vote a “forced passage,” arguing the upper chamber’s role is being sidelined.
• Opponents are preparing a shared‑initiative referendum bid, with LR senator Francis Szpiner saying 195 lawmakers have signed on, though this complex mechanism has never succeeded since its creation in 2008.