The French Lower House of Parliament has approved a controversial bill to legalize assisted dying for adults with terminal diseases, in the midst of deep division in a country with strong Catholic traditions.
The national meeting voted 305 to 199 for the measure, which is supported by President Emmanuel Macron. The bill now goes to the Senate and returns to the Lower House for a second reading. Proponents hope it will be law by 2027.
France is currently allowing what passive euthanasia is called – such as withdrawal of living support – and deep sedation before death.
According to the bill, patients can ask for fatal medication that they would take themselves, or, if physically unable to have administered by a doctor or nurse. They must be older than 18, keep the French citizenship or stay and suffer from an irreversible, advanced or terminal disease that causes constant, untreatable pain. People with serious psychiatric disorders or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s would not be eligible.
A medical team would assess any case. After a period of reflection, the patient could receive the medicine at home, in a care home or medical facility.
The government described the bill as “An ethical response to the need to support the sick and suffering,” to call “Neither a new right nor a freedom … but a balance between respect and personal autonomy.” Macron greeted the mood as “An important step” On the way to a more human approach to the end of life.
A separate account that establishes a right to palliative care was not opposed.
France’s proposal would be more restrictive than laws in countries such as Belgium or the Netherlands, where euthanasia – in which doctors give a fatal injection at the request of the patient – has been legal since 2002 and extends to minors. Similar laws exist in Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Canada, Australia and Colombia. Medically assisted suicide, where patients themselves use prescribed fatal medication, is legal in Switzerland and various American states.
Right-to-Die campaigners have welcomed the law, although it describes as relatively documents in reach. “We’ve been waiting for this for decades,” said Stephane Gemmani of the ADMD Association.
Critics warn that the definitions are too wide and possibly assisted die for patients who can live for years. Some fear that the bill could undermine medical ethics, extract care standards and expose vulnerable people to subtle pressure to die.
Read more:
More Canadians opt for medically assisted death
“It would be like a loaded gun on my bedside table,” A 44-year-old woman with Parkinson’s disease told a protest outside parliament, according to the BBC.
This month, the religious leaders of France have issued a joint statement in which the “Dangers” of one “Anthropological break.” Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleeau wrote this week on X that it is “Not a account of Brotherhood but a behind Latership.”
You can share this story on social media:
#httpswww.rt.comnews618332franceassisteddyinglawfrance #approves #direct #law