Overview

• The French National Assembly restarted deliberations on April 8, 2025, focusing on two separate end-of-life proposals: one on palliative care and the other on assisted dying.
• The assisted dying proposal includes five strict eligibility criteria, such as being an adult French resident with a severe, incurable illness causing unrelieved suffering.
• Concerns persist over vague medical terms like 'pronostic vital,' which critics argue could broaden eligibility beyond terminal cases.
• Debate also centers on whether decisions for assisted dying should involve a medical team or a single physician, with calls to reintroduce collegial decision-making.
• Both proposals will be voted on simultaneously in the Assembly on May 27, 2025, as part of a process to address ethical, medical, and procedural controversies.