Overview
- Lawmakers in the National Assembly voted 291–241 to adopt the bill that would allow some adults with advanced, incurable illnesses to obtain lethal medication for medically assisted suicide.
- Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu asked the Constitutional Council to examine the text, and the council has up to about a month to rule before the law could be promulgated.
- The measure sets strict eligibility and steps: applicants must be 18 or older, be French citizens or stable residents, have an advanced or terminal incurable condition, and show unbearable or treatment‑resistant physical suffering.
- The bill requires a doctor to convene a multidisciplinary panel, decide within 15 days, enforce a minimum two‑day reflection period, allow withdrawal of consent at any time, and permits self‑administration or clinician assistance if the patient cannot self‑administer.
- The vote exposes deep political and social divides over guardianship protections, palliative‑care capacity and conscientious objection, and, if upheld by the council, would place France among countries that allow regulated assisted dying.