A decisive step taken: the National Assembly votes in first reading in favor of the "right to assisted death"

The National Assembly voted in first reading this Tuesday, May 27, 2025, in favor of the "right to assisted death" , allowing this reform, which has been in the making for several years, to take a decisive step.

305 MPs against 199 approved the reform, which was initiated in 2022 by the President of the Republic and which would be the most significant in the societal field since the introduction of marriage for all in 2012 if it were to succeed.

The deputies had previously approved, this time unanimously, a text on palliative care .

"With respect for sensitivities, doubts, and hopes, the path to fraternity that I hoped for is gradually opening up. With dignity and humanity," Emmanuel Macron responded on X, hailing "an important step."

The bill by MoDem MP Olivier Falorni, who has been committed to this cause for decades, creates a "right to assisted dying" consisting of "authorising and supporting" a patient who wishes to administer a lethal substance, or having it administered to them if they are "not physically able to do so" .

It therefore legalizes assisted suicide , and exceptionally euthanasia, without these words, which are considered to have negative connotations, appearing in the text.

It defines five cumulative criteria , including suffering from "a serious and incurable condition" which is "life-threatening, in an advanced" or "terminal" phase, and presenting "constant physical or psychological suffering" .

Bayrou's "questions"

Even though each group allowed its members the freedom to vote on a subject that touches on the personal beliefs and experiences of each person, the chamber was roughly divided between the left and the "central bloc", on one side, who were mostly in favour of the text, and the right and the extreme right, who were hostile, on the other.

Prime Minister François Bayrou, historically reluctant to support assisted dying , expressed his "questions" about the text on Tuesday morning and indicated that if he were a member of parliament, he would "abstain." But he also expressed his "confidence in the parliamentary process so that all questions are resolved," while the back-and-forth between the two chambers is far from over.

During their explanations of vote, the deputies underlined the seriousness of the moment, and praised the quality of the two weeks of debates .

Emotion sometimes took over, as in the comments of Green Party MP Sandrine Rousseau, who testified again on Saturday about the suicide in 2013 of her mother, who was suffering from terminal cancer.

"Rarely in the recent history of this assembly has such a serious subject been debated with such respect and attention," said Horizons MP and former Health Minister Agnès Firmin-Le Bodo, convinced that she would vote for the text thanks to the changes made during the session.

A government amendment made self-administration of the lethal product the rule again , and administration by a doctor or nurse the exception.

The government also succeeded in amending one of the eligibility criteria, specifying that the "advanced" phase of an illness is characterized by "the entry into an irreversible process marked by the worsening of the sick person's state of health which affects their quality of life."

The deputies approved an amendment from the president of the Social Affairs Committee, Frédéric Valletoux (Horizons), strengthening the collegiality of the procedure , and another from the government re-establishing a minimum period of two days for the patient to confirm his decision.

"Deeply balanced"

"It is a text that is profoundly balanced" with "strictly defined criteria," Olivier Falorni defended to the press on Tuesday. The right continues to be fiercely opposed to it.

This law will concern "people with several years to live, whose suffering will come from illness, but also from the feeling of being too heavy a burden" , castigated LR MP Philippe Juvin, rejecting that the criteria are "strict" or that the procedure is truly collegial.

But the text may still undergo numerous adjustments . Before being adopted, it will have to continue its legislative journey in the Senate, perhaps as early as this autumn , and return to the Assembly for a second or even a third reading.

The continuation of a tortuous journey that began in 2022: after entrusting a citizens' convention to consider the issue, Emmanuel Macron unveiled the broad outlines of a bill in March 2024. But its review could not be completed, interrupted by the dissolution of the government.

"I hope that the text (on assisted dying) will be voted on by 2027 , it is still possible," Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said this weekend.