France has taken an important step towards legalising assisted dying. In the French lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, 305 MPs voted on Tuesday, the 27th of May, in favour of a bill “granting adult patients with a serious illness who have requested it the right to an assisted death”, while 199 voted against. It will now be passed to the upper house, the Senate, and then be considered for a second reading in the National Assembly, reports the British broadcaster BBC.
Supporters of the bill hope it will come into force by 2027.
This would make France the eighth country in the EU to allow assisted dying.
As it stands, the French version would not be as broad as the Netherlands’ or Belgium’s, which were the first countries in Europe to legalise assisted dying.
A separate bill establishing a right to palliative care was passed without opposition. It is estimated that 48% of French patients in need of palliative care do not receive it.
FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON SAID ON SOCIAL MEDIA ON TUESDAY THAT THE DECISION TO APPROVE THE TWO BILLS WAS AN “IMPORTANT STEP”.
“With respect for sensitivity, doubt and hope, the path of fraternity that I hoped for is gradually opening up,” he wrote on X.
Much of the two-week debate in the Assembly focused on the circumstances under which a patient could qualify for assisted dying.
The approved formula applies to “people affected by a serious and incurable disease” that is “life-threatening and in its advanced or terminal phase”, who suffer “permanent physical or psychological suffering”.
The patient should be able to “freely express his or her wishes”. They would have to wait 48 hours and then have it confirmed.
Once authorised, the lethal dose could be administered by the patient or by a physician’s assistant if the patient is unable to do so.
The authorisation would be given by the doctor, but only after consultation with peers.
MPs were given the opportunity to vote freely on the draft law, which shows that views on assisted dying are divided across party lines. The bill was mainly supported by centre-left and left-wing MPs, while right-wing and populist MPs opposed it.
Conservative critics, backed by the Catholic Church, feared that the definitions in the bill were too broad and could allow assisted death for people who could live for years.
Opponents also feared that elderly people might feel forced to choose death to avoid the burden to their families.
Some left-wing MPs wanted to go further, allowing assisted dying for minors, foreigners and people who have left written instructions before entering a coma.
Under the bill, medical staff who object to assisted dying would not be obliged to carry it out. However, attempting to block an assisted dying procedure would be punishable by two years’ imprisonment.
The Conservatives wanted to create another crime – incitement to assisted dying. However, this amendment was rejected by MPs.
Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, who is Catholic, said that if he had to vote for the bill, he would abstain.