French MPs have approved a Bill to legalise assisted suicide in the country.
The legislation, which was voted through on 27 May in the National Assembly, the French Parliament's lower house, must now go before the Senate.
The vote was seen by "right-to-die campaigners as a pivotal moment", <mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><a href="https://www.thetimes.com/article/e961c6e8-e9cd-4abd-9f1a-555a52fb1e13">reports</a> </mark><em>The Times</em>, which notes that the Bill avoids using the terms euthanasia and assisted suicide.
The measure was approved by 305 MPs, notably from the Left Party and from President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition. It was opposed by 199 MPs, more than half of whom are with the populist National Rally.
The legislation would give patients the right to use a lethal substance to end their lives if they are in an advanced stage of an incurable condition. If they cannot do so themselves, they can ask doctors to administer the substance, according to the Bill.
Macron, who pledged to address the issue in his 2022 election campaign, hailed the vote as an “important step”.
“With respect for sensitivities, doubts and hopes, the path of fraternity that I hoped for is gradually opening up,” he said.
This puts him at odds with François Bayrou, his prime minister, a practising Catholic who has voiced opposition to the Bill as it currently stands.
Under the legislation, patients wanting to be assisted to die must be over 18, French or a resident in the country and suffering from a “serious and incurable, life-threatening, advanced or terminal illness … characterised by entry into an irreversible process marked by worsening of the … health, affecting their quality of life”.
They must be able to express their wishes “freely and in an informed manner” and be facing “constant, unbearable physical or psychological suffering”.
There will be an opt-out for doctors who do not wish to be involved in the process and a register of those who do, notes <em>The Times</em>.
It reports that the legislation "marks a notable change for France, which only allows passive euthanasia", while noting that the legislation "remains stricter than countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium, which have allowed active euthanasia and assisted suicide since 2002".
Switzerland allows assisted suicide both for its citizens and people from other countries, which has led to so-called suicide tourism, notes <em>The Times</em>, adding that France is seeking to prevent this happening. It notes that Austria also authorises assisted suicide, as does Spain, which also allows euthanasia too.
As approval for assisted suicide becomes increasingly entrenched across Europe, British politicians approved similar legalisation supporting assisted dying for adults with an incurable illness and judged to have a life expectancy of fewer than six months at the end of last year.
They must now decide in a vote expected in June on whether to approve the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill along with its related amendments and send it on to the House of Lords, which would mark the final stage for it to be stopped or to become law.
The Catholic Church in England and Wales has repeatedly warned of the immense dangers and damage done to society and human relations if assisted suicide becomes legal and supported by the State.
<a href="https://thecatholicherald.com/royal-college-of-psychiatrists-turns-against-assisted-suicide-bill-ahead-of-fridays-vote/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><strong><em>RELATED: Psychiatrists turn against assisted suicide Bill ahead of Friday’s vote</em></strong></mark></a>
<em>Photo: A screen shows the vote's results at the end of the debate on the bill on the right to assisted suicide at the National Assembly, the French Parliament's lower house, Paris, France, 27 May 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP via Getty Images.)</em>
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