French President Emmanuel Macron signed a law on August 19 allowing certain adult citizens with incurable illnesses to use the service of euthanasia (assisted suicide). The signing took place after the French Constitutional Council last week confirmed that the text complies with the country's fundamental law. The Élysée Palace welcomed the constitutional body's decision, stating that it "concluded exemplary democratic debates and established the necessary guarantees for citizens."
A Political Victory and a Second-Term Social Reform
The text of the law was adopted by the French parliament in July after years of debates touching on legal, medical, and ethical issues. The adoption of the document is seen as a political victory for Macron, who pledged to advance this initiative after his re-election in 2022. The reform is considered one of the most prominent social transformations of the president's second term and the largest change in France since the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2012. The decision places France among the countries that have already legalized euthanasia, alongside the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada.
Who Can Use the Right and How the Process Works
Under the new law, the right to the service is granted to adults who are French citizens or who reside permanently in the country. Patients must suffer from an incurable illness and experience pain that cannot be controlled or alleviated through treatment; those who have refused or discontinued treatment may also qualify if they themselves assess the pain as unbearable. A doctor verifies the patient's compliance with the criteria, after which a committee reviews the medical records for compliance with legal requirements. The final decision is made by the treating physician, with a prior expert assessment possible, and the patient has the right to withdraw consent at any time. Under the rules, the patient administers the lethal injection themselves; in cases of physical limitations, they may be assisted by a medical professional.
Contradictory Data
A terminological discrepancy is observed in the sources: some media outlets call the document the "euthanasia law," while others call it the "assisted suicide law." In fact, the mechanism described in the text (the patient administering the injection themselves, with possible assistance from a medical professional) is closer to the assisted suicide model than to classical euthanasia, in which the injection is administered by a doctor. Moreover, the Constitutional Council, confirming the constitutionality of the law, noted that a number of provisions require clarification, in particular the norm on freedom of conscience, which allows medical professionals to refuse to participate in the process. According to the council's assessment, the right to refuse must also extend to private medical institutions if their actions clearly contradict their principles, except in cases where such an institution is the only one able to meet the needs of the local population. This provision responds to one of the key demands of Catholic medical institutions in France.
Context and Significance for Europe
The signing of the law concludes a long-standing political and public process in France and enshrines a new legal reality in the field of end-of-life care. For the European legal space, this means an expansion of the list of jurisdictions where assisted suicide is legalized and will likely stimulate further debates in neighboring countries. At the same time, the Constitutional Council's caveats regarding freedom of conscience and the status of private and confessional clinics remain a subject of potential future clarifications and judicial interpretations.
