France's lower house backs right to assisted dying bill
The Bill has sharply divided France, and MPs have been given a free vote
France's lower house on Tuesday approved a right-to-die bill in the first reading, the initial step in a lengthy process to grant patients medical assistance to end their lives in clearly defined circumstances.
A total of 305 lawmakers approved the legislation, which has the backing of President Emmanuel Macron but it contested by some conservative groups.
199 deputies voted against the bill.
Macron has insisted that any authorisation to choose death should be limited to people with incurable illnesses and intense physical or psychological pain. He could still decide to put the deeply divisive topic to a vote by referendum.
If the law is approved, France would join a small group of European countries with legislation covering the right to aid in dying that includes Germany, Spain, Austria and Switzerland. Malta has just started a public discussion on the subject.
All parliamentary factions have allowed their members to vote according to their personal convictions and free of party constraints.
Leftist and centrist parties are broadly in favour of the bill, with conservatives and far-right deputies are broadly hostile.
The bill is widely referred to as focusing on "end of life" or "aid in dying" in the French debate, rather than "assisted suicide" or "euthanasia".
It will allow medical staff to help "a person gain access to a lethal substance when they have expressed such a wish".
The patient would use such a substance without aid or have it administered by a medically qualified person "if they are in no condition physically to do so themselves".
Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said at the weekend that the "French model" of assisted dying would be "strict and closely supervised".
Macron said last year that France needed the law because "there are situations you cannot humanely accept".
The goal was "to reconcile the autonomy of the individual with the solidarity of the nation", he said.
The bill is facing stiff opposition from religious leaders in a country with a longstanding Catholic tradition, as well as many health workers.
Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, a devout Catholic, said Tuesday that he would abstain if he were a deputy because of lingering "questions" but added he was confident that the National Assembly would provide answers.
The draft law would allow recourse to assisted dying only in an "advanced" stage of illness, which it defines as "entering an irreversible process characterised by a worsening health condition of the sick person that affects the quality of their lives".
Until now, French patients in pain wishing to end their lives have had to travel abroad, including to neighbouring Belgium.
Current French legislation allows passive euthanasia, such as withholding artificial life support, and since 2016 doctors have also been authorised to induce "deep and continuous sedation" for terminally ill patients in pain.
But active euthanasia, whereby doctors administer lethal doses of drugs to patients, remains illegal.
Vautrin said she hopes that the Senate will begin examining the issue before the end of this year, and submit its suggested changes back to the National Assembly in early 2026.
"I want this bill to get a final vote by 2027 which is still possible," said the minister.
France holds presidential elections in 2027 in which Macron cannot stand after serving two consecutive terms.