RT reports today that “France’s lower house of parliament has approved a controversial bill to legalize assisted dying for adults with terminal illnesses, amid deep divisions in a country with strong Catholic traditions. The National Assembly voted 305 to 199 in favor of the measure, which is backed by President Emmanuel Macron. The bill now moves to the Senate and will return to the lower house for a second reading. Supporters hope it will become law by 2027.”
According to RT: “Under the bill, patients could request lethal medication, which they would take themselves, or if physically unable, have administered by a doctor or nurse. They must be over 18, hold French citizenship or residency, and be suffering from an irreversible, advanced, or terminal illness causing constant, untreatable pain. People with severe psychiatric conditions or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s would not qualify.”
RT adds: “France’s proposal would be more restrictive than laws in countries such as Belgium or the Netherlands, where euthanasia—in which doctors give a lethal injection at the patient’s request—has been legal since 2002 and extended to minors. Similar laws exist in Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Canada, Australia, and Colombia. Medically assisted suicide, where patients take prescribed lethal medication themselves, is legal in Switzerland and several U.S. states.”
