Assisted dying: the Government refers the matter to the Constitutional Council after the final vote

Paris – 15 July 2026: The French National Assembly is due to make a final decision on Wednesday on the bill concerning the right to assistance in dying. Immediately afterwards, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu will refer the matter to the Constitutional Council. The move seeks to examine the constitutionality of a reform that, under strict conditions, would allow assisted suicide by medical staff or the administration of a lethal substance.

MP Olivier Falorni, author of the legislative initiative, told Franceinfo that he does not fear a challenge by the Constitutional Council. The procedure has been lengthy and intense at the parliamentary level. The government, however, justifies its referral precisely by the uneven course of deliberations in the two chambers: the National Assembly is said to have debated extensively, while the Senate did not allow a comparably thorough final examination of the definitive text.

Specifically, the Constitutional Council will have to examine several safeguards. Matignon mentions, first, the minimum two-day period during which a patient must confirm their wish after the medical decision. Second, this concerns adults under legal protection and the question of how their free and informed consent will be ensured. Third, the review affects the conscience clause for medical staff, as well as facilities that, in principle, do not wish to offer assistance in dying.

According to the available text, only adults with a serious and incurable illness will be able to access it if their life expectancy is threatened at an advanced or terminal stage and their suffering cannot be effectively relieved. Exclusively psychological suffering does not establish any entitlement. The attending physician must decide on the request within 15 days; this is followed by a reflection period of at least two days.

The legislative process has clearly highlighted the institutional divide. MPs approved the text on 30 June 2026, in a new reading, by 295 votes to 232. They had previously backed it in May 2025 by 305 votes to 199 and in February 2026 by 299 votes to 226. In the conservative- and centrist-majority Senate, however, the proposal was rejected three times.

On 7 July 2026, the Senate approved by 169 votes to 164 a motion excluding further substantive deliberation. As a result, the National Assembly had the final say following the failure of the joint committee on 19 May. The Constitution permits this in the case of laws when no agreement is reached between the two chambers.

The referral to the Constitutional Council does not shift political responsibility, but it submits the reform to constitutional review. The central question is not the political desirability of the law. Rather, it is a matter of determining whether the legislature has reconciled, within a constitutional framework, personal freedom, human dignity, the protection of vulnerable persons, and the freedom of conscience of healthcare professionals.