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CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
France's National Assembly adopts long-debated bill legalizing end-of-life options
A board shows the result after France's lower house of parliament has adopted a bill to allow adults with incurable illness to take lethal medication, Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at the National Assembly in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) PARIS — France's lower house of parliament adopted a bill 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 step on the long-debated issue, though others remain before the bill can become law. 'I'm thinking of all the patients and their loved ones that I've met over more than a decade. Many are no longer here, and they always told me: Keep fighting,' said Olivier Falorni, the bill's general rapporteur, amid applause from fellow lawmakers. The proposed measure on lethal medication defines assisted dying as allowing use under certain conditions so that people 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, which received 305 votes in favor and 199 against, will be sent to the Senate, where the conservative majority could seek to amend it. 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. Activists have criticized the complexity and length of the parliamentary process that they say is penalizing patients waiting for end-of-life options. In parallel, another bill on palliative care meant to reinforce measures to relieve pain and preserve patients' dignity was also adopted Tuesday, unanimously. 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 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. 'What a long road it has been, contrary to what the public thought, contrary to what the French people believed,' said Jonathan Denis, president of the Association for the Right to Die With Dignity (ADMD). Months-long debate ahead Earlier this month, Macron suggested he could ask French voters to approve the measure via referendum if parliament discussions get off track. Macron on Tuesday called the vote an important step, adding on social media that 'with respect for different sensibilities, doubts, and hopes, the path of fraternity I had hoped for is gradually beginning to open. With dignity and humanity.' Many French people have traveled to neighboring countries where medically assisted suicide or euthanasia are legal. Medically assisted suicide involves patients taking, of their own free will, a lethal drink or medication 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. 'I cannot accept that French men and women have to go to Switzerland — if they can afford it — or to Belgium to be supported in their choice, or that French men and women are being accompanied clandestinely in other countries," Denis said. Religious leaders object French religious leaders this month issued 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. 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. In the U.K., lawmakers are debating a bill to help terminally ill adults end their lives in England and Wales after giving it initial approval in November. Sylvie Corbet, The Associated Press
The Guardian
3 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
French parliament prepares to vote on legalising assisted dying
France's parliament is preparing to vote on a controversial bill to legalise assisted dying, potentially paving the way for euthanasia under what campaigners say would nonetheless remain some of the strictest conditions in Europe. As part of a long-awaited package of end-of-life legislation delayed by President Emmanuel Macron's decision to dissolve parliament last year, MPs are also due to vote on Tuesday on a less contentious bill establishing the right to palliative care. Both votes are the start of a long parliamentary process that will require the bills to move on to the senate – the upper house – and then back to the lower house for a second reading, meaning they are unlikely to become law before next year. The government has described the right-to-die law as 'an ethical response to the need to support the sick and the suffering', insisting it was 'neither a new right nor a freedom … but a balance between respect and personal autonomy'. The bill would allow a medical team to decide if a patient is eligible to 'gain access to a lethal substance when they have expressed the wish'. Patients would be able to use it themselves or have it administered by a nurse or doctor 'if they are in no condition physically to do so themselves'. Patients must meet a number of strict conditions: they must be over 18, hold French citizenship or residency and suffer from a 'serious and incurable, life-threatening, advanced or terminal illness' that is 'irreversible'. The disease must cause 'constant, unbearable physical or psychological suffering' that cannot be addressed by medical treatment, and the patient must be capable of 'expressing freely and in an informed manner' their wish to end their life. The bill – referred to in France as a law on 'end of life' or 'aid in dying' rather than 'assisted suicide' or 'euthanasia' – is expected to be backed by Macron's centrist MPs and their allies and by the left, with right and far-right deputies likely to vote against. All parliamentary groups have been given a free vote to express their personal convictions. Euthanasia is a highly sensitive subject in France, a country with a longstanding Catholic tradition, and the bill is also opposed by many health workers. The prime minister, François Bayrou, a devout Catholic, has said he had 'questions' and would abstain if he were an MP, but Macron said last year that France needed the legislation because 'there are situations you cannot humanely accept'. France currently allows passive euthanasia – such as withholding artificial life support – and deep sedation before death, but patients seeking active end-of-life options have no choice but to travel to other countries where euthanasia is legal. Right-to-die campaigners have welcomed the law, though describing it as relatively modest in scope. 'It's a foot in the door, which will be important for what comes next,' said Stéphane Gemmani of the ADMD association. 'We've been waiting for this for decades. Hopefully France will steadily align itself with other European countries,' Gemmani said. 'Forcing people to go to Belgium or Switzerland, pay €10,000 or €15,000 … The current situation is just wrong.' Opinion polls show most French people are in favour of assisted dying, but France has been slower than many European neighbours to legalise it. Others are actively debating the issue, including the UK, where an assisted dying bill is before parliament. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion Active euthanasia – where a caregiver induces death at the request of the patient, and assisted suicide – where doctors provide the patient with the means to end their life themselves – have been legal in the Netherlands and Belgium since 2002 under broadly similar conditions. A doctor and an independent expert must agree the patient is suffering unbearably and without hope of improvement. Both countries have since extended the right to children under 12. Luxembourg also decriminalised active euthanasia and assisted dying in 2009. Active euthanasia is outlawed in Switzerland, but assisted suicide has been legal since the 1940s and organisations such as Exit and Dignitas have helped thousands of Swiss nationals, residents and others to end their lives. Austria legalised assisted suicide in 2022, while Spain adopted a law in 2021 allowing euthanasia and medically assisted suicide for people with a serious and incurable illness, providing they are capable and conscious, the request was made in writing, reconfirmed later, and approved by an evaluation committee. Portugal decriminalised euthanasia in 2023 but the measure has not yet come into force after certain articles were rejected by the constitutional court. In the UK, MPs approved the legalisation of assisted dying in England and Wales for adults with an incurable illness who have a life expectancy of under six months and are able to take the substance that causes their death themselves, in a first vote in November last year. MPs must now vote on whether the text, amended in May to allow medics to opt out, is sent to the upper chamber for further scrutiny. The Scottish parliament has also passed its first vote on a bill to legalise assisted dying.
Washington Post
3 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
France's National Assembly to vote on long-debated bill legalizing end-of-life options
PARIS — 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.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
After seeing my sister's anguish I understand why she chose assisted suicide
Shortly before her death by assisted suicide, Caroline March wrote a raw, frank and deeply moving Facebook post outlining her reasons for ending her life. The 31-year-old, a former professional event rider who was paralysed in a cross-country fall, described herself as 'a complete rogue, someone who thrives off spontaneity', who could never be happy without the adrenaline rush of riding her horses or the physical exertion of labouring on her parents' farm. This wasn't her only option, she conceded, but 'it's a decision I've made which is the best route for me'. Pre-empting those she knew would vehemently disagree, she added: 'No one can truly understand what I have to go through.' Caroline's death at Pegasos clinic in Switzerland on March 23, 2024 was a devastating outcome her family had hoped desperately to avoid. They had done everything in their power to persuade her that her life was still worth living; that she could build a new existence that was, yes, far different from the one she'd envisaged, but still meaningful. In the end, there was nothing they could do to dissuade her. 'She was strong, independent and very determined,' says her brother Tom, 34, who is currently in the middle of an epic cycling and climbing fundraising challenge in her memory. 'She very much made up her mind and was confident that she didn't want to go on, so I have to respect that.' Growing up in the Essex countryside, in a family of equestrians – Tom's wife, Piggy March, has represented Great Britain in eventing many times – Caroline had ridden her entire life. By the time of her accident, at Burnham Market on April 16, 2022, she was delighted to be competing at four-star level at events such as Blenheim, Chatsworth and Gatcombe. Tom describes the fall which transformed her future as 'innocuous', saying: 'I've seen much more dramatic ones on a regular basis, when people get up, dust themselves off and carry on as normal.' But Caroline was knocked unconscious and awoke complaining of an altered sensation in her legs. She was airlifted to Addenbroke's Hospital, Cambridge, where she underwent surgery and it emerged she had suffered lacerations to her liver and fractured two vertebrae in her spine. It was soon clear that the catastrophic injury had left her paralysed below the waist, but since it wasn't 'complete' – 'She had tiny bits of feeling, but very minimal,' says Tom – Caroline threw herself into rehabilitation at Stoke Mandeville Hospital's specialist spinal injuries centre, determined to overcome it. 'The surgeon who operated on her didn't believe she would walk again, but other doctors were less sure, because people can make progress,' says Tom. 'My approach was to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, but I think Caroline was initially very positive, because she expected that if she worked hard with all the physio, she would be fine.' The realisation that wouldn't be the case was a gradual dawning over the course of many frustrating months, in which progress refused to materialise. Caroline even flew to the United States for stem cell therapy using her bone marrow, which made no difference – a crushing blow Tom sees as a turning point. 'I think she was fighting what the reality was for quite a long time, before it suddenly hit, like a steam train,' he says. 'She realised, this is what I am.' Despite their mutual love of horses and the outdoors, brother and sister were always very different characters: Tom level-headed and steady, while Caroline was more emotionally volatile and 'lived totally in the moment'. The amount of planning and help now required for her to go anywhere was anathema to her. 'Her life seemed so much smaller than before,' he says. Another heartbreaking aspect of her plight was her longing to be a mother. In her Facebook post, she wrote: 'All I ever wanted was a family and I'd have given up everything in an instant for one.' Tom believes it's possible she might still have been able to have children, but says she couldn't reconcile the difference between the kind of mother she'd envisaged being, and the one she could be now. 'In her head, motherhood was running around, playing games with them, and obviously that kind of involvement isn't possible from a wheelchair.' When she first began raising the possibility of assisted suicide, Tom saw in it echoes of her habit of running away and slamming the door shut as a teenager, as a way to shut down difficult conversations. 'She'd say, 'What's the point of talking about this? I'm not going to be here anyway' which, particularly for my parents, was excruciating to hear.' Then, as time went on, it became clear a plan was taking shape. Initially, Tom and his parents argued and pleaded with her to reconsider, 'but the harder we tried, the more she pushed back,' he says. He talked Caroline into counselling with a therapist, to no avail. 'My wife, Piggy, spoke to a counsellor who said we couldn't change her mind, we could only be there for her, which helped,' he says. Caroline seemed matter-of-fact when discussing her plans to go to the clinic, once telling him she couldn't see an equestrian mental health charity which wanted to help, because she had a dentist's appointment. 'I said, 'Why are you going to the dentist when you're saying you won't be here in a month?' She said, 'I have to get my teeth X-rayed so they can identify me when I'm out there.' 'I was shocked, but it made me realise the hoops she was jumping through. You don't just careen into this by accident, it's a very calculated decision. Her confidence in it has given me solace.' She would tell her loved ones she wasn't depressed; the problem wasn't in her head, but her body – although Tom worried then, and still wonders now, if she was in the despair that was inevitable once she realised her situation was permanent, 'and if, had she waited longer, she might have found a way out'. Until the last moment, her family were still, understandably, wondering if she could be dissuaded. 'We thought, 'Do we go down the legal route to try to stop her flying?',' he says. 'But the problem wasn't her going to Switzerland, it was that she wanted to. And if we stopped her going, we wouldn't have changed that desire. 'It seemed that there was no real path to keeping our relationship with her until the end without respecting her decision.' Caroline went to the clinic alone – helping someone travel abroad for assisted suicide is a criminal offence – promising her family that if she changed her mind, she would come home. Saying goodbye was 'surreal' says Tom, who didn't know if he would see her again. 'I hope I never have to do anything like that again,' he says, simply. The change of heart they hoped for didn't come, and she went through with her plan. The assisted dying Bill of which MPs voted in support last November, and which is currently making its way through Parliament, would not have applied to Caroline had it been passed in time. Only terminally ill adults with less than six months to live will be given the right to die under the proposed legislation. The volatile debate around the subject reignited ahead of the Scottish Parliament's vote earlier this month for its version, with those in favour citing individual autonomy, an end to suffering and the right to dignity in death, and those opposed arguing it would violate the sanctity of life, cause the potential coercion of vulnerable people and possibly prove a slippery slope leading to involuntary euthanasia. Tom's views on the assisted dying have, perhaps inevitably, changed since Caroline's death. 'Fundamentally, I find it strange that somebody who doesn't want to live can't choose not to,' he says. 'But now I see more of the nuance and complexity of all the different circumstances people might be in. 'How do you write legislation that deals with all the potential issues that will arise, and decides when it's the right time and when it's not?' On May 11, he embarked on the Pedal3Peaks Challenge to cycle 800 miles from Balmoral Castle to Windsor Castle, climbing the Three Peaks on the way. He finished the challenge within 100 hours and is raising money for the charity Spinal Research. In the UK, someone is paralysed every two hours as a result of a spinal cord injury. 'If I can be part of another family in the future not having to go through what we have, then that's a phenomenal thing to achieve, and a way to give meaning to what happened to Caroline,' he says. In the Facebook post she wrote before her death, she quoted the philosopher Alan Watts: 'I'd rather have a short life that is full of what I love doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way.' Now, Tom focusses on his sister as she would want to be remembered: strong and fearless, living and dying on her own terms.
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Haunting movement that people make just before they die - and the fascinating reason behind it, nurse reveals
If your loved one on hospice suddenly appears to reach up to the sky or ceiling at the end of their life, you're not just imagining it. For the 'unexplainable phenomenon' is 'really common' among people on the verge of death, experts have claimed. Katie Duncan, from Gaithersburg in Maryland, said the upward movement will often catch relatives off guard but patients are in fact reaching towards dead relatives, friends or even a cherished pet. While this can make it look like the dying person is in distress, she said it doesn't cause a patient to suffer. The nurse practitioner and end-of-life coach has worked in intensive care, home hospices and community and rehab facilities, caring for terminally-ill patients in the months leading up to their death. Now, she shares videos on social media on what she says she has learnt about death and dying, in the hopes of destigmatising it. In the clip, seen more than five million times, she said: 'This is one of those unexplainable phenomenons. In my personal experience working with people who are dying, this reach towards someone or something above them is really common. 'Sometimes this is associated with what we call end of life visions or other end of life experiences. 'When someone vocalises seeing someone or something, often it's an angel, sometimes it's a bright light. 'Very commonly, they say it is a loved one or family member or pet, someone who has died before. 'The person who is dying is vocalising that they're seeing this person. But sometimes you see a person reach and they don't say anything at all.' Clips of patients in their final moments have been widely shared on social media sites including TikTok and Instagram. Responding to Ms Duncan's video, TikTok users spoke about their own experiences. 'My husband did this also he reached both arms out and said mom the biggest smile I ever seen him smile,' one wrote. 'My dad saw a little boy on a white horse the night before he passed,' another said. In a separate Instagram reel seen over one million times, one woman also shared a video of her husband reaching up towards the ceiling as he drank water. 'I was so happy he was drinking I didn't even notice he was doing the before death reach to the sky,' she said. It's unclear exactly what causes terminal lucidity. However, one US study published in 2023 looking at brain activity during death suggested that dying brains are deprived of oxygen and may produce increased gamma wave activity. Gamma waves are the fastest brain waves, which occur when patients are highly alert and actively processing sensory information. Experts also believe the brain releases a flood of neurotransmitters like serotonin right before death, which could improve mood. Ms Duncan also said: 'What should we be doing about this reach? Nothing. It's one of those mystical parts of the dying process that we are able to be a witness to. 'We also know that other end of life visions and experiences tend to bring the dying person a lot of peace and comfort. 'If you're a loved one who's witnessing this in your dying person, I hope that you can let it bring you comfort.'
