The National Assembly will make the final decision on the right to assistance in dying

Paris – 15 July 2026: The National Assembly will make a decision on the bill concerning the right to assisted dying in a final reading on Wednesday. The vote is of particular importance because the Senate again did not consider the text on 7 July. Thus, under the procedure of the Fifth Republic, the final say remains with the deputies at the Bourbon Palace.

The bill is intended to grant adults with a serious and incurable illness access to a lethal substance under clearly defined conditions. Among other things, the person concerned must be able to express their wishes freely and knowingly and must be suffering from a burden resistant to treatment or perceived as unbearable. Due to the illness, life expectancy must be limited at an advanced or terminal stage.

The planned procedure remains phased both medically and in terms of timing. A doctor must examine the application and obtain a second medical opinion; psychiatric consultation may also be involved if necessary. A period of no more than 15 days is provided for making the decision. After that, the applicant must confirm their wish following a minimum reflection period of two days.

As a rule, the person must take the prescribed substance themselves. If they are physically unable to do so, the substance may be administered by a doctor or nurse. Medical staff retain the right to refuse on grounds of conscience. Supporters see this as a narrowly limited exception for situations in which palliative medicine and deep sedation do not sufficiently relieve suffering.

However, the debate is controversial not only from a medical perspective, but also from institutional and ethical viewpoints. The National Assembly already approved the text on 30 June by 295 votes to 232. In the Senate, however, it encountered fundamental opposition. The majority there considered the planned safeguards insufficient and rejected an expansion of the existing legal framework of the 2016 Claeys-Leonetti law.

The personal dimension of the legislation is illustrated by a Franceinfo report about Karine, whose husband died before a possible change in the law. She primarily criticizes the length of the political process. The case is indicative of the pressure that affected families and patient organizations exert on lawmakers, without eliminating fundamental objections to active assistance in dying.

The vote concludes a process that had to be restarted after the dissolution of the National Assembly in June 2024. If the text is adopted, parliamentary consideration will be complete. According to information from government circles, the matter will then be referred to the Constitutional Council. Only its review and subsequent implementation through decrees will ultimately determine the practical legal framework.