PARIS (AP) — France’s lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, is voting Tuesday on a bill to allow adults with incurable illness to take lethal medication, as public demands grow across Europe for legal end-of-life options.
Tuesday's vote, expected in the late afternoon, is a key legislative step on the contentious and long-debated issue. If approved by a majority of lawmakers, the bill will be sent to the Senate for further debate.
The proposed measure defines assisted dying as allowing people to use a lethal substance under certain conditions so that they may take it themselves. Only those whose physical condition doesn’t allow them to do it alone would be able to get help from a doctor or a nurse.
The bill provides for strict conditions
To benefit from the newly proposed measure, patients would need to be over 18 and be French citizens or live in France.
A team of medical professionals would need to confirm that the patient has a grave and incurable illness “at an advanced or terminal stage,” is suffering from intolerable and untreatable pain, and is seeking lethal medication of their own free will.
Patients with severe psychiatric conditions and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease won’t be eligible.
The person would initiate the request for lethal medication and confirm the request after a period of reflection.
If approved, a doctor would then deliver a prescription for the lethal medication, which could be taken at home, at a nursing home or a health care facility.
In parallel, another bill on palliative care meant to reinforce measures to relieve pain and preserve patients' dignity will also be put to a vote Tuesday.
A 2023 report indicated that most French citizens back legalizing end-of-life options, and opinion polls show growing support over the past 20 years. Initial discussions in parliament last year were abruptly interrupted by President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly, plunging France into a months-long political crisis.
Months-long debate still ahead
A definitive vote on the measure could take months to be scheduled amid France’s long and complex legislative process. The National Assembly has the final say over the Senate.
Earlier this month, Macron suggested he could ask for French voters to approve the measure via referendum if parliament discussions get off track.
Activists supporting the change have criticized the complexity and length of the parliamentary process that they say is penalizing patients waiting for end-of-life options.
Many French people have traveled to neighboring countries where medically assisted suicide or euthanasia are legal.
The Association for the Right to Die with Dignity (ADMD) has called on French lawmakers “to respect the French who want the same right that our Dutch, Belgian, Luxembourgian, Swiss, Spanish, Portuguese neighbors have.”
French religious leaders issued this month a joint statement to denounce the bill, warning about the “dangers” of an “anthropological rupture.” The Conference of Religious Leaders in France (CRCF), which represents the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist communities, said the proposed measures risk exerting pressure on older people and those with illnesses or disabilities.
Similar talks in the U.K.
The debate in France comes as similar talks are ongoing in the U.K., where lawmakers are debating a bill to help terminally ill adults end their lives in England and Wales after giving it initial approval in November.
Medically assisted suicide involves patients taking, of their own free will, a lethal drink or medication that has been prescribed by a doctor to those who meet certain criteria. Euthanasia involves doctors or other health practitioners giving patients who meet certain criteria a lethal injection at their own request.
Assisted suicide is allowed in Switzerland and several U.S. states. Euthanasia is currently legal in the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Australia, Colombia, Belgium and Luxembourg under certain conditions.