Overview
- The chamber begins plenary debate Tuesday, with a solemn vote scheduled for January 28 and a new National Assembly reading expected in February.
- Two separate texts are on the agenda, one expanding palliative care and another proposing a regulated framework for assisted dying.
- A Senate Social Affairs Committee majority backs shifting from a broad right to assisted dying to a stricter “medical assistance in dying” for patients whose vital prognosis is short term.
- Several thousand opponents marched in Paris on January 18 in the Marche pour la vie, with organizers citing about 10,000 participants and police counting 7,300 at the peak.
- Religious leaders have sharply criticized the reform and some senators say their faith informs their position, while President Emmanuel Macron presses to complete the legislation before the presidential election.