May 28 (UPI) — Lawmakers in France voted to legalize assisted dying for some terminally ill residents in the final stages of life and in “constant physical or psychological suffering,” but they also backed a parallel piece of legislation making palliative care a legal right.
Members of Parliament in the lower house, the National Assembly, voted 305-199 in favor Monday after two weeks of debate, clearing the way for the bill to go the Senate before returning to MPs for a second reading — but it is unlikely to become law before 2027.
Under the proposed law, patients would have to state their wish to die by lethal injection of their own free will, and have mental capacity to do so, with a two-day cooling-off period at the end of which the person confirms their decision.
Patients, who must be citizens or legal residents over the age of 18, would need to administer the lethal medication themselves, but in cases where the person is physically incapable, a medical professional would be permitted to do it.
If it becomes law, France will become the eighth country in the 27-member European Union to legalize the practice. Across the English Channel, England and Scotland are also midway through separate legislative processes for assisted dying bills.
President Emmanuel Macron weclomed the vote calling it an “important step” that was also respectful because it addressed the issue of terminally ill people currently unable to access palliative care.
“With respect for sensitivities, doubts and hopes, the path of fraternity that I wished for is gradually opening up. With dignity and humanity,” he wrote in a post on X.
However, the practice has faced opposition in the nominally Catholic nation with the bill referred to as a “law on end-of-life,” with support largely demarcated along the left-right divide where centrist and socialist MPs voted in favor while right and far right parties voted against.
Religious leaders from across the faith spectrum — Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists — launched a joint campaign earlier this month against the “serious abuses” and the “radical shift” they argue the legislation would usher in.
Archbishop Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Archbishops Conference of France said the proposed law made a mockery of dignity.
“Killing cannot be the choice of brotherhood or dignity. It is the choice of abandonment and refusal to help until the end. This transgression will weigh heavily on the most vulnerable and lonely members of our society,” he said.
The Archbishop of Lyon, Olivier de Germay, appealed to MPs to have the courage “to go against the tide” and say no to a “pseudo-solidarity that would amount to telling elderly people that we can help them disappear.”
Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours, vice president of the bishops’ conference, pointed to what he said was a “glaring shortage” of caregivers resulting in the 50% of French people eligible for quality palliative care — which he said stopped people wanting to end their lives vast majority of cases — being unable to access it.
Notably, the move is also strongly opposed by a significant proportion of health workers, which could prove problematic given their cooperation would be necessary for assisted dying to work.
