France establishes a right to assisted dying and defines the process from an individual's request to the review of every procedure
France establishes a right to assisted dying and defines the process from an individual's request to the review of every procedure
On 18 August, Emmanuel Macron signed Law № 2026-794, which was published on 19 August. It makes the procedure available to adult French citizens and people who live in France legally and on a permanent basis, provided that their serious, incurable illness meets the statutory conditions.
The law added a right to assisted dying to the French Public Health Code. A person who makes the request personally may receive authorization to use a lethal substance under medical supervision. The law provides that the person administers the substance themselves. A doctor or nurse administers it when the person is physically unable to do so. This is how the law defines the new procedure.
Five conditions must be met. The person must be at least 18 years old and must either be a French citizen or live in France legally and on a permanent basis. They must have a serious, incurable, life-threatening illness at an advanced or terminal stage. Their suffering must result from that illness and must either be resistant to treatment or, in the person's own assessment, unbearable after they have refused or discontinued treatment. Finally, the person must be capable of expressing a free and informed choice.
The law requires an assessment of both the medical conditions and the request itself. A doctor explains the person's condition, available treatments, palliative care for severe symptoms, and available psychological support. The person then submits the request formally. To assess the illness, suffering, and freedom of choice, the doctor convenes a panel consisting of the doctor, a specialist in the person's illness who is not involved in their treatment, and a healthcare professional from the treatment team. The panel helps determine whether the medical conditions are met, but the first doctor makes the decision no later than 15 days after the request is formally submitted.
After a favorable decision, at least two days must pass before the person confirms the request. On the day the substance is administered, the doctor or nurse verifies the confirmation again and ensures that no one is pressuring the person either to proceed or to withdraw. A designated hospital pharmacy prepares the lethal substance and supplies it to the doctor or nurse, either directly or through a community pharmacy. A commission operating under the health minister then reviews whether the conditions and procedural requirements were followed in each case.
Doctors and other healthcare professionals assigned a role in the procedure may decline to participate on grounds of conscience. They must provide the patient with the names of colleagues who are willing to help. The Constitutional Council extended the same protection to pharmacists. It also allowed a private institution to refuse to provide the procedure if doing so would conflict with its stated mission and another institution in the same area could accept the patient. Before the law was signed, the Senate rejected the bill three times, the joint committee of both chambers failed to reach an agreement, and the National Assembly adopted it in its final form on 15 July.