Particle.news
Download on the App Store

French Senate Sets Jan. 12 Review of End-of-Life Bills as Referendum Push Grows

The politically sensitive aid-to-die proposal faces likely revisions in the right-leaning upper house.

Overview

  • Laurant Panifous told senators the upper chamber will open debate on the two texts on January 12, with a return to the National Assembly slated for February 2026.
  • Olivier Falorni and Charles Biétry delivered a letter urging President Emmanuel Macron to call a referendum before summer 2026 if no law is adopted.
  • The letter denounces repeated postponements as indecent for terminally ill patients who do not have time to wait.
  • The palliative-care and aid-to-die bills passed their first reading in the National Assembly in May, but the Senate’s examination was delayed after François Bayrou’s government fell.
  • Parliamentary sources anticipate the Senate majority could alter the aid-to-die measure, and two readings in each chamber are still needed before any final adoption.