Assembly Reopens Bill to Create Conditional Right to Aid in Dying

Overview

• The National Assembly has begun a third reading of the bill that would establish a conditional right to 'aide à mourir' and is widely expected to approve it again ahead of a solemn vote planned for June 30.
• The government has said it will give the lower house the final say on July 15, a timetable that makes the Assembly's votes decisive if the Senate rejects the text again when it takes it up in early July.
• Commission amendments let patients choose between assisted suicide and active euthanasia, removed criminal penalties for obstructing or encouraging access to aid in dying, and produced textual inconsistencies that deputies must resolve in plenary.
• Critics, notably LR deputy Patrick Hetzel, say safeguards are too weak, pointing to very short time limits for review (fifteen days for instruction and two days for reflection), largely a posteriori controls, no mandatory psychologist or judicial referral when discernment is doubtful, and no conscience clauses for pharmacists or some institutions.
• The debate has been heavily amended and politicized, with roughly 1,800 amendments filed and opponents warning the law could widen eligibility far beyond a handful of terminal cases, strain palliative-care policy, and raise risks for vulnerable or protected adults.