The following article was published by the European Institute of Bioethics on June 30, 2025.
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France National Assembly
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The
plan to authorise assisted suicide and euthanasia in France, which has
been supported for some time by a number of political and media figures
in France, has been the subject of numerous initiatives in recent years,
despite some political upheavals.
Since the
majority opinion in favour of authorising euthanasia issued by the
French National Consultative Ethics Committee in September 2022 (in
contradiction with previous opinions that had been largely
unfavourable), the political timetable on this issue has accelerated.
This was followed by a citizens' convention on end-of-life issues in
December 2022, and the examination of a government bill in May 2024,
halted by the dissolution of the National Assembly a few weeks later. The draft bill that has been before the public since 12 May is based on the text adopted at first reading by the Social Affairs Committee.
Towards a right to "use a lethal substance
Article 1 of the
bill establishes a ‘right to assistance in dying’, i.e. authorising a
person who so requests to ‘have recourse to a lethal substance [...] in
order to administer it or have it administered by a doctor or nurse’. Under
the heading of ‘aid in dying’, this means that the person requesting it
can commit suicide after being given the means to do so, or be
euthanised by a carer if he or she is no longer capable of administering
the lethal substance.
Subjective conditions for access
In addition to
the conditions of majority and French nationality (or residence in
France), the text provides, as does Belgian law, for a condition linked
to medical condition and a condition linked to the state of suffering:
- The person
must be ‘suffering from a serious and incurable disease, whatever its
cause, which is life-threatening, in an advanced or terminal phase’;
- They must
also be ‘suffering physically or psychologically as a result of this
condition, which is either refractory to treatment or unbearable
according to the person when he or she has chosen not to receive or to
stop receiving treatment’.
Patients must also be considered as ‘capable of expressing their wishes in a free and informed manner’.
Following the
example of Belgian law, the text therefore does not stipulate that the
patient's death must be expected in the near future in order for his or
her life to be terminated. Some people, such as the French National Authority for Health,
have stressed the vague and non-objective nature of the notion of
‘advanced or terminal phase’, as well as that of ‘life-threatening
prognosis’.
Non-binding opinion of other healthcare professionals
The doctor asked
by the patient to end his or her life must obtain the opinion of
another doctor (who is not obliged to consult the patient), as well as
the opinion of another medical auxiliary or care assistant (if necessary
from a distance), without these opinions being binding.
A minimum period of a few days between the request and death by lethal injection
If, within the
two-week period, the doctor decides in favour of the patient's request,
the patient may be euthanised or die by assisted suicide after a period
of reflection of at least two days. In practice, this means that the
time between the patient's initial request and death by lethal injection
can be reduced to a handful of days. This will depend on how quickly
the doctor makes his or her decision and how soon the person chooses to
have their life ended.
Carers involved in all cases
Insofar as it is
envisaged that the person will in principle administer the lethal
substance themselves, the programmed death provided for in the text
under discussion corresponds to assisted suicide. Only
in the event that the person is unable to self-administer the lethal
cocktail would euthanasia be carried out by the doctor or nurse.
However, even if
they do not administer the lethal substance to the person, the doctor
or nurse ‘responsible for accompanying’ the person is required to
‘supervise the administration of the lethal substance by the person’, in
addition to having obtained the lethal substance and, where applicable,
having taken responsibility for authorising the person's assisted
suicide beforehand.
Assisted suicide is a "natural death
The bill also stipulates that the death certificate will state that the person is ‘deemed to have died a natural death’. This
echoes an equivalent provision in Belgian law. Justified as a means of
guaranteeing access to certain life insurance cover, this legal fiction
nonetheless seriously misleads the public about the very reality of the
act of death - unnatural death - involved in euthanasia or assisted
suicide.
Limited conscience clause
While the text
gives doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants the right to refuse to
take part in this procedure, pharmacists are excluded from the
protection provided by this specific conscience clause, even though they
are required to be involved in preparing and dispensing the lethal
substance. Furthermore, the freedom of
health establishments and retirement homes not to provide for euthanasia
or assisted suicide within their walls is explicitly excluded: the
staff of these institutions will not be able to oppose the carrying out
of programmed death within their walls.
Monitoring compliance with the law after the patient's death
The text
establishes a control commission, tasked in particular with assessing
compliance with the conditions of the law once the patient has died, on
the sole basis of information declared by the carers concerned.
Offence of obstruction for attempting to prevent assisted suicide
The only
criminal provisions introduced by the bill concern preventing (or
attempting to prevent) others from practising assisted suicide or
euthanasia, or from obtaining information on the subject, ‘by any means,
including electronically or online, in particular by disseminating or
transmitting allegations or information likely to intentionally mislead,
with a view to dissuading, as to the characteristics or medical
consequences of assisted dying’.
The text grants
associations campaigning in favour of euthanasia and assisted suicide
(‘whose statutory purpose includes the defence of the rights of persons
to have access to aid in dying’) the right to bring a civil action to
prosecute on this basis.
More articles on France:
- France's National Assembly votes to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide (Link).
- Dutch ethicist urges France to reject euthanasia (Link).