France's National Assembly Adopts Long-Debated Bill Legalising End-Of-Life Options
The proposed measure on lethal medication defines assisted dying as allowing people to use it under certain conditions so that they may take it themselves
France's lower house of parliament adopted a bill on Tuesday to allow adults with incurable illness to take lethal medication, as public demands grow across Europe for legal end-of-life options.
The National Assembly vote is a key legislative step on the long-debated issue. 'I'm thinking of all the patients and their loved ones. There are days, you know, you will never forget. I will never forget this day," said Olivier Falorni, the general rapporteur of the bill, amid applause from fellow lawmakers.
The bill received 305 votes in favour and 199 against. It will be sent to the Senate for further debate. A definitive vote on the measure could take months to be scheduled amid France's long and complex process. The National Assembly has final say over the Senate.
In parallel, another bill on palliative care meant to reinforce measures to relieve pain and preserve patients' dignity was also adopted on Tuesday, unanimously.
advetisement
The proposed measure on lethal medication defines assisted dying as allowing people to use it under certain conditions so that they may take it themselves. Only those whose physical condition does not allow them to do it alone would be able to get help from a doctor or a nurse.
The bill has strict conditions To benefit, 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 deliver a prescription for the lethal medication, which could be taken at home or at a nursing home or a health care facility.
A 2023 report indicated that most French citizens back legalising 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.
MORE DEBATE AHEAD
Earlier this month, Macron suggested he could ask French voters to approve the measure via referendum if parliament discussions get off track.
Activists supporting the change have criticised the complexity and length of the parliamentary process that they say is penalising patients waiting for end-of-life options. Many French people have travelled to neighbouring 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 neighbours have". French religious leaders this month issued a joint statement to denounce the bill, warning about the 'dangers" of an 'anthropological rupture".
Advertisement
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 UK
The vote in France came as similar talks are ongoing in the UK, 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.
top videos
View All
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 US states. Euthanasia is currently legal in the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Australia, Colombia, Belgium and Luxembourg under certain conditions.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - Associated Press)
Watch India Pakistan Breaking News on CNN-News18. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated!
tags :
assisted suicide euthanasia France
Location :
Paris, France
First Published:
May 27, 2025, 23:57 IST
News world France's National Assembly Adopts Long-Debated Bill Legalising End-Of-Life Options
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
8 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Trump urges senators to sign his big bill of tax breaks into law by July 4
It's a potentially tumultuous three-week sprint for senators preparing to put their own imprint on the massive Republican package that cleared the House late last month by a single vote AP Washington President Donald Trump wants his big, beautiful bill of tax breaks and spending cuts on his desk to be signed into law by the Fourth of July, and he's pushing the slow-rolling Senate to make it happen sooner rather than later. Trump met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune at the White House earlier this week and has been dialling senators for one-on-one chats, using both the carrot and stick to nudge, badger and encourage them to act. But it's still a long road ahead for the 1,000-page-plus package. His question to me was, How do you think the bill's going to go in the Senate? Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said about his call with Trump. Do you think there's going to be problems? It's a potentially tumultuous three-week sprint for senators preparing to put their own imprint on the massive Republican package that cleared the House late last month by a single vote. The senators have been meeting for weeks behind closed doors, including as they returned to Washington late Monday, to revise the package ahead of what is expected to be a similarly narrow vote in the Senate. Passing THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL is a Historic Opportunity to turn our Country around, Trump posted on social media. He urged senators Monday to work as fast as they can to get this Bill to MY DESK before the Fourth of JULY. But Trump's high-octane ally, billionaire Elon Musk, lambasted the package and those voting for it. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination, Musk posted on his site X, as some lawmakers have expressed reservations about the details. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it. A test for Thune Thune, like House Speaker Mike Johnson, has few votes to spare from the Senate's slim, 53-seat GOP majority. Democrats are waging an all-out political assault on GOP proposals to cut Medicaid, food stamps and green energy investments to help pay for more than USD 4.5 trillion in tax cuts with many lawmakers being hammered at boisterous town halls back home. It'd be nice if we could have everybody on board to do it, but, you know, individual members are going to stake out their positions, Thune said Tuesday. But in the end, we have to succeed. Failure's not an option. Johnson called Musk's harsh criticism of the bill very disappointing. With all due respect, said Johnson, who said he spoke with Musk for more than 20 minutes, my friend Elon is terribly wrong about the one big beautiful bill. At its core, the package seeks to extend the tax cuts approved in 2017, during Trump's first term at the White House, and add new ones the president campaigned on, including no taxes on tips. It also includes a massive buildup of USD 350 billion for border security, deportations and national security. To defray the lost tax revenue to the government and avoid piling onto the nation's USD 36 trillion debt load, Republicans want reduce federal spending by imposing work requirements for some Americans who rely on government safety net services. Estimates are 8.6 million people would no longer have health care and nearly 4 million would lose Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Programme benefits, known as SNAP. The package also would raise the nation's debt limit by USD 4 trillion to allow more borrowing to pay the bills. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump's bill "is ugly to its very core. Schumer said Tuesday that senators should listen to Musk. Behind the smoke and mirrors lies a cruel and draconian truth: tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy paid for by gutting health care for millions of Americans," said the New York senator. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is expected to soon provide an overall analysis of the package's impacts on the government balance sheets. But Republicans are ready to blast those findings from the congressional scorekeeper as flawed. The GOP holdouts Trump switched to tougher tactics Tuesday, deriding the holdout Republican senators. The president laid into Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, the libertarian-leaning deficit hawk who has made a career of arguing against government spending. Paul wants the package's USD 4 trillion increase to the debt ceiling out of the bill. Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!), Trump posted. Paul seemed unfazed. I like the president, supported the president, the senator said. But I can't in good conscience give up every principle that I stand for and every principle that I was elected upon. The July 4th deadline is not only aspirational for the president, it's all but mandatory for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has warned Congress that the nation will run out of money to pay its bills if the debt ceiling, now at USD 36 trillion, is not lifted by mid-July or early August to allow more borrowing. Bessent has also been meeting behind closed doors with senators and GOP leadership. To make most of the tax cuts permanent particularly the business tax breaks that are the Senate priorities senators may shave some of Trump's proposed new tax breaks on automobile loans or overtime pay, which are less prized by some senators. There are also discussions about altering the USD 40,000 cap that the House proposed for state and local deductions, known as SALT, which are important to lawmakers in high-tax New York, California and other states, but less so among GOP senators. We're having all those discussions, said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., another key voice in the debate. Hawley is a among a group of senators, including Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who have raised concerns about the Medicaid changes that could boot people from health insurance. A potential copay of up to USD 35 for Medicaid services that was part of the House package, as well as a termination of a provider tax that many states rely on to help fund rural hospitals, have also raised concerns. The best way to not be accused of cutting Medicaid is to not cut Medicaid, Hawley said. Collins said she is reviewing the details. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hindustan Times
11 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
'Disgusting': Why Elon Musk attacked Donald Trump's ‘Big Beautiful' bill
Elon Musk on Tuesday once again criticised US President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill, calling it a "disgusting abomination". The 'Big Beautiful bill Act' is currently at the top of Trump's legislative agenda, with the Republican leader lobbying with his party's lawmakers in the Senate to pass the bill. "I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it,' Musk said about the bill in a post on X. The public criticism is a sharp turn from Musk, who has been a fierce backer of Trump's policies till now. A week prior to his departure as the DOGE chief, he had said in an interview that he was 'disappointed' by the spending bill. But it was a much milder criticism than what he said on Tuesday. Why is the Tesla and SpaceX CEO against Donald Trump's spending bill? According to Elon Musk, Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill Act' will increase the federal deficit. 'It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt,' Musk said in a post on X. Through social media posts, Elon Musk has gained support from several fiscally conservative Republicans in the US Senate, which could complicate the bill's passage in that chamber. He even threatened those who voted for the bill. The legislation has already passed the House of Representatives hurdle. 'In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,' he wrote in another X post.' The business interests of the world's richest man stand to take a hit if lawmakers approve Trump's bill, which would slash funding for electric vehicles and related technologies, according to a Reuters report. Musk's Tesla is the nation's largest electric vehicle manufacturer. SpaceX, another of Musk's companies, has massive defence contracts. The White House has downplayed Musk's criticism of the bill, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying that it doesn't change the President's opinion. "The president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill, it doesn't change his opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill, and he's sticking to it," Leavitt told reporters.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
18 minutes ago
- First Post
Chinese national arrested for smuggling 'dangerous pathogen' into US, confirms FBI chief Kash Patel
Two Chinese nationals have been arrested in the US for allegedly smuggling a dangerous biological substance, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Tuesday. read more US Senate confirms Trump loyalist Kash Patel as new FBI director in a tight vote. File Image / AP FBI Director Kash Patel said on Tuesday that two Chinese nationals were arrested in the US for allegedly trying to smuggle a dangerous biological substance into the country. 'New… I can confirm that the FBI arrested a Chinese national within the United States who allegedly smuggled a dangerous biological pathogen into the country.', Kash Patel said in a post on X This is a developing story.
