National Assembly Opens Third Reading of France’s Assisted‑Dying Bill

Overview

• The National Assembly began a third public reading on 22 June and is debating roughly 1,800 amendments as deputies work to refine a bill that would create a conditional right to assistance to die.
• The text would let eligible patients obtain either assisted suicide or euthanasia, a commission amendment that shifts euthanasia from a fallback to an available option and that opponents call a major change in scope.
• Key procedural disputes include who must administer the lethal act, very short deadlines for instruction and reflection reported as about fifteen days plus two days, and mainly ex post controls that critics say risk errors and pressure on vulnerable people.
• Political stakes are high: the government has made the reform a presidential-term priority and says the Assembly will have the last word around mid-July while the Senate is set to resume its review in early July.
• Medical groups and opponents warn the law could weaken palliative-care development and expose frail patients to implicit pressure, a concern amplified in right-leaning coverage that highlights comparisons to Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands.