Critics of the text range from right-wing politicians who oppose the idea in principle to initial supporters who considered the final text too watered down.
The French Senate rejected on Wednesday a law to regulate assisted dying, sending it back to the lower house, where it could now be approved without further Senate approval.
The proposed law aims to allow adults with incurable illnesses to take lethal medication. Only those whose physical condition prevents them from doing it themselves would be able to get help from a doctor or a nurse.
To benefit, patients would need to be over 18 and be French citizens or live in the country.
A team of medical professionals would need to confirm that the patient has a grave and incurable illness "at an advanced or terminal stage," is suffering from intolerable and untreatable pain, and is seeking lethal medication of their own free will.
Patients with severe psychiatric conditions and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease would not be eligible.
The proposed law would also create a conscience clause for healthcare professionals who do not wish to participate in this procedure and who must then provide the patient with the names of other healthcare professionals.
The law was first proposed in 2024 and was approved by the National Assembly in May 2025.
The next step was the Senate’s approval, where it was blocked by 181 votes against and 122 in favour.
Critics of the text range from right-wing politicians who oppose the idea in principle to initial supporters who considered the final text too watered down.
On January 21, this year, the Senate rejected Article 4 of the bill on medical assistance in dying, the one defining the conditions for access to aid in dying.
According to the Socialist group in the chamber, “this rejection left the entire text meaningless”.
Bruno Retailleau, president of the liberal-conservative Republicans political party, said that there is no need for a new law on assisted dying but for additional resources to guarantee palliative care access for all.
“End-of-life care is accompaniment, not abandonment,” Retailleau said on a post on X.
In the same Senate session on 28 January, the chamber adopted a law on palliative care to expand and structure access to end-of-life support across France.
This law was approved almost unanimously by 307 votes in favour and 17 against.
What are the next steps?
“As assisted dying responds to a deep-seated desire among the French people, I regret the Senate’s rejection of this bill today”, said Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of France’s National Assembly.
She added that the process will continue in the week of 16 February with the second reading in the National Assembly.
“I am convinced that Parliament will be able to definitively adopt this bill, which is eagerly awaited by our fellow citizens, by the summer of 2026,” she wrote on the social media platform X.
If the Assembly approves the text again, the bill will go back to the Senate for its own second reading, where senators could amend or reject it again. However, the National Assembly retains the final say.
President Emmanuel Macron promised in 2022 to bring forward an assisted dying law following his reelection.
Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Spain have similar laws that allow euthanasia to be administered by a healthcare professional.
Austria, Germany, and Italy allow physicians to help with the suicide of terminally ill people.
Several other European countries are working on legislation on euthanasia or assisted dying, including Ireland, France, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal, and Slovenia.
