France approves assisted-dying bill, pending constitutional review

PARIS — France has moved to create a legal right to assisted dying after the National Assembly gave final parliamentary approval to one of the country’s most consequential social reforms in decades. MPs adopted the measure on 15 July by 291 votes to 241, with 29 abstentions, ending a long legislative battle but not yet bringing the new system into force.

The bill permits an eligible adult to receive a lethal substance and administer it personally. Only when a patient is physically unable to do so may a doctor or nurse administer the substance. That distinction makes self-administration the normal procedure and intervention by a health professional the exception.

The vote gives the lower house’s version the final parliamentary word after repeated opposition from the conservative-controlled Senate. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has nevertheless said he will refer provisions to the Constitutional Council. The law therefore cannot be promulgated immediately, and the council may validate, alter or strike down parts of the text.

In 2022, I committed to opening this path with the French people. With seriousness, humility and full respect for our democracy, that commitment has been fulfilled.

President Emmanuel Macron issued that statement after the vote. His government first set the reform in motion following a citizens’ convention on end-of-life policy, while earlier parliamentary work was disrupted by the dissolution of the National Assembly in 2024.

Five conditions must be met

Access is limited to adults who are French nationals or who live in France on a stable and lawful basis. Applicants must have a serious and incurable condition that is life-threatening and in an advanced or terminal phase. They must also experience constant physical or psychological suffering linked to that illness which cannot be relieved by treatment or which they consider unbearable.

The patient must be capable of making a free and informed decision. Psychological suffering on its own is not sufficient, and people whose condition prevents informed consent, including those with advanced Alzheimer’s disease, would not qualify through a present request.

A patient begins the process by asking a doctor. That doctor must consult at least one other physician and another healthcare professional before deciding on eligibility. The request is to be assessed within 15 days. If approved, the patient must wait at least two days before confirming the decision and may withdraw at any point.

The substance may then be taken at a chosen time and place, including at home or in a healthcare institution. A doctor or nurse must remain close enough to intervene in the event of complications. France’s national health insurance system is expected to cover the procedure.

Conscience and constitutional questions

Healthcare workers may refuse to participate under a conscience clause. The French system would, however, require a refusing professional to direct the patient towards colleagues willing to handle the request. That obligation is among the practical safeguards intended to prevent a legal entitlement from becoming inaccessible.

Lecornu has identified three areas for constitutional scrutiny: whether the minimum reflection period adequately protects personal freedom and human dignity; how the rules apply to adults under legal protection; and how individual conscience rights interact with institutions whose end-of-life mission excludes assisted dying.

Supporters argue that the bill gives incurably ill people control over suffering that medicine can no longer relieve. Opponents, including religious organisations and parts of the medical profession, warn that legalisation may expose older, disabled or seriously ill people to direct or unspoken pressure. The parallel dispute is whether palliative care is sufficiently available for a choice to be genuinely free.

Luxembourg already lives with the choice

For readers in Luxembourg, the debate is not theoretical. The Grand Duchy legalised euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2009. Its law covers adults with legal capacity who make a voluntary request and face an incurable condition causing constant and unbearable physical or psychological suffering without prospect of improvement.

Luxembourg recorded 34 cases of euthanasia or assisted suicide in 2024, compared with 22 in 2023 and 34 in 2022. In 2023, such deaths represented 0.6% of all deaths in the country, according to information presented to the Chamber of Deputies.

A parliamentary health committee reviewed the Luxembourg system in June 2026. The discussion exposed a specific access problem: a doctor invoking conscientious objection must inform the patient promptly but is not currently required to identify another willing practitioner. The national oversight commission warned that patients could be left without a route forward.

Health Minister Martine Deprez said reforming the 2009 law was not a government priority, although she did not close the door to further discussion. She announced an end-of-life consultation intended to help patients understand the distinction between palliative care, euthanasia and assisted suicide.

France is consequently entering terrain that Luxembourg has regulated for 17 years, but with a narrower gateway in several respects, including the requirement that the illness threaten life in an advanced or terminal phase. The Constitutional Council’s decision will determine whether that carefully negotiated framework survives intact and when French patients may first use it.