Lecornu Announces Constitutional Review of the Assisted Dying Law

Paris – 14 July 2026: Following the expected final adoption on Wednesday, 15 July, of the law on a right to assistance in dying, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu intends to refer the matter to the Constitutional Council. The government aims to have certain safeguards in this particularly socially contentious reform reviewed before it is promulgated.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the referral to the Constitutional Council will focus primarily on the duration of the withdrawal period. The constitutional judges are to determine whether this provision is compatible with the principles of personal liberty and human dignity. The announced review is therefore not directed against the law as a whole, but against a central component of its procedure.

The National Assembly will have the final say after the Senate again rejected the bill at second reading. An attempt at mediation between the two chambers had previously failed. On 30 June, lawmakers had already approved the text again by 295 votes to 232. The final vote on 15 July is intended to conclude the parliamentary process.

The law provides access to assistance in dying under strict, cumulative conditions. Those eligible would be adult French nationals or individuals with permanent and lawful residence in France who suffer from a serious and incurable illness. The illness must affect life expectancy at an advanced, irreversible stage or in its terminal phase.

As a general rule, the person concerned is expected to administer a lethal substance themselves. However, following deliberations in the National Assembly, it may be administered by a doctor or nurse under certain conditions. The decision is to be embedded in a medically regulated procedure; a conscience clause remains in place for health professionals.

The referral to the Constitutional Council is institutionally significant because, under Article 61 of the 1958 Constitution, the Prime Minister can request a review of a measure that has not yet been promulgated. Such a preventive review can uphold individual provisions, subject them to interpretative reservations, or strike down contested passages before the law enters into force.

The government is thus responding to continuing objections, particularly from conservative and right-wing camps, which warn of insufficient protection for vulnerable patients. Supporters, by contrast, point to the strict eligibility criteria and the link with the law already passed to strengthen palliative care. The Constitutional Council’s decision will therefore be crucial to the reform’s specific design.