France National Assembly passes euthanasia bill. Final vote will be July 15.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

I have bad news.  

Sebastien Ostertag reported from France that the French National Assembly voted to support the euthanasia bill by a vote of 295 to 232 against.

The bill will go back to France's Senate but even if France's Senate defeats the euthanasia bill again, the National Assembly can over-ride the Senate if they vote to legalize on July 15, 2026.

On May 27, 2025, the French National Assembly passed the euthanasia bill by a vote of 305 to 199. On January 21, 2026, France's Senate defeated the bill by 181 to 122.

On February 25, 2026, the French National Assembly passed the euthanasia bill again. France's Senate once again defeated the bill on Monday May 11, 2026 by a vote of 151 to 118. The Senate then passed, by a vote of 325 to 18, the part of the law that improves access to palliative care.

Ostertag reported that the opposition has two weeks to change 32 votes before the final vote on July 15. Ostertag explains:

• If the bill passes: Catholic and otherwise Christian retirement homes and medical institutions will likely shut down since there is no conscience clause for religious institutions.
• Nurses and pharmacists can be forced to participate in euthanasia, since there is no conscience clause for them.
• Those who are poor and suffering may be pressured into death since access to palliative care isn't universal.
• The waiting/reflection period before death is only 48 hours.
• Estimates from France suggest that, based on France's population, 50,000 people could die every year from euthanasia.
• The family won't be able to ask the court to stop the decision to die.
• Proponents of the bill will likely push for further expansions, as in other jurisdictions, to allow children to be euthanized, people with mental illness and criminalizing those who try to dissuade someone from being killed.

Unfortunately, the effort to put the question of euthanasia on the ballot through a parliamentary and constitutional procedure was struck down by the Conseil Constitutionnel, (French Supreme Court) which means that the July 15th vote is the last say, at least until after the next presidential election.

France's government strongly supports the euthanasia bill and has pressured members of the National Assembly to support it. President Emmanuel Macron and the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet both support legalizing euthanasia.

France needs to examine the experience with euthanasia in Québec and completely reject the bill. Québec legalized euthanasia based on "exceptional circumstances" in 2015. The French Canadian province now has the highest euthanasia rate in the world.