Top story: Parliament approves assisted dying

The bill provides for the legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide. To be eligible, a person must be of legal age, be a French national or a foreign national with lawful and stable residence in France, suffer from a serious, incurable and life-threatening condition at an advanced or terminal stage; experience constant physical or psychological suffering that is unresponsive to treatment or deemed unbearable by the patient; and be capable of expressing a free and informed wish right up to the very end. The request will be assessed through a collegial procedure. If accepted, the patient will be able to administer the lethal substance themselves. If they are physically unable to do so, they may request that it be administered by a doctor or a nurse. Healthcare professionals will retain a conscience clause allowing them to refuse to take part in this procedure. But no sooner had it been passed than the law once again proved divisive, including within the medical profession. Senators had rejected this major societal reform, championed by the President of the Republic, on three separate occasions. The President of the Senate and several senators have criticised the lack of detail regarding ‘free and informed consent’ and the protection of ‘vulnerable people’. The details of its implementation will therefore still need to be clarified by the government following referral to the Constitutional Council. Depending on the outcome of this review, certain provisions could be upheld, amended or declared unconstitutional.