France’s National Assembly gives final approval to assisted-dying bill after years of debate

PARIS (AP) — France’s National Assembly gave final approval Wednesday to a bill allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication, the culmination of years of debate over end-of-life care.

But the 291-241 vote in the lower house of parliament doesn’t mean the bill immediately becomes law. There will be a review to determine if it complies with the French Constitution.

The National Assembly approved the measure after backing it in three previous readings. French President Emmanuel Macron announced the legislation more than three years ago.

“In 2022, I committed to opening this path with the French people,” Macron said in a message posted on X. "With seriousness, with humility, and with full respect for our democracy, that commitment has been fulfilled.”

According to various estimates, assisted dying is available to around 300 million people worldwide, with euthanasia legal under certain conditions in some countries and assisted suicide allowed in others and in several U.S. states. France has an increasingly aging population, with growing numbers of patients in the country who require care for chronic illnesses.

France, a traditionally Catholic nation, has grappled with legal, medical, moral and religious questions about end-of-life options, including existing legislation that allows doctors to keep terminally ill patients sedated before death, but stops short of allowing assisted suicide and euthanasia.

“The national representation has risen to the occasion during these debates. This has been the longest debate since the 1980s,” said Yael Braun-Pivet, the president of the National Assembly.

Many French people have traveled to neighboring countries where medically assisted suicide or euthanasia are legal. Medically assisted suicide generally involves a patient voluntarily taking lethal medication prescribed by a doctor. Euthanasia involves a doctor or other healthcare professional administering a lethal injection at the patient’s request.

End-of-life options are also being debated in the United Kingdom. A bill to legalize assisted dying in England and Wales will formally return to Parliament on Sept. 11, five months after it ran out of time in Parliament’s last session.

The proposed measure in France primarily provides for medically assisted suicide, by allowing patients to receive and self-administer lethal medication under strict conditions. Only people whose physical condition prevents them from doing so would be allowed to receive assistance from a doctor or a nurse.

Patients seeking to end their lives would have to be at least 18 years old and either French citizens or legal residents of France.

A doctor would first have to consult a team of healthcare professionals and then confirm that the patient has a serious and incurable illness that is life-threatening. The patient must be in an advanced or terminal stage, experiencing pain that can't be relieved or is unbearable, and seeking lethal medication of their own free will.

Lawmakers specified that psychological suffering alone wouldn't qualify a person for medically assisted dying.

People with severe psychiatric disorders or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s wouldn't be eligible.

Patients would initiate the request, to be reviewed by health professionals within 15 days, and then confirm it after a period of reflection lasting at least two days.

If approved, they could take the lethal medication at the time and in the place of their choice, including at home or in a healthcare facility, in the presence of their loved ones if they wish.

On the chosen date, the doctor or nurse would have to verify that the person still wishes to proceed and remain nearby to intervene if complications arise.

France’s national health insurance system would cover all associated costs.

A 2023 report found that most French people are in favor of legalizing end-of-life options, and opinion polls have shown support increasing over the past two decades.

The Association for the Right to Die With Dignity said that the law would allow people “to choose to end unbearable suffering, freely and with full awareness.” Its president, Jonathan Denis, said in a statement that “a law that creates a new right never forces anyone to exercise it. It does, however, ensure that every person … can remain at the heart of medical decisions that concern them and have their wishes respected.”

Opponents argue the measure could put pressure on older people and those living with illness or disabilities.

In an open letter to Macron, the anti-euthanasia group Alliance Vita said that “every effort must be made to ensure that people who are suffering have immediate access to palliative care and support. Presenting death as a desirable solution can never be an acceptable response to suffering and is contrary to human dignity.”

The Senate, the upper house where conservatives hold a majority, rejected the bill. But under France’s legislative process, the National Assembly has the final say when the two houses of parliament disagree.

Senate President Gérard Larcher and Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that they would refer the bill to the Constitutional Council, which will have up to a month to determine whether it complies with the French Constitution. The law will only take effect once that review has been completed.

“Extensive debates have taken place in the National Assembly on this bill. However, discussions in the Senate did not allow for such an in-depth examination, in order to produce legislation that addresses both the aspirations of its supporters and the concerns of those who are worried about how it will be implemented,” Lecornu said.

In the U.K., opponents of the bill to legalize assisted dying prevented it from passing in the House of Lords, the upper house, by filing more than 1,200 amendments on a range of concerns, including potential coercion of vulnerable people and a lack of safeguards for those with disabilities.

That was in April, after elected representatives in the House of Commons passed it.

The bill that is expected to be presented again proposes allowing adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel. One aim is so people no longer go to other countries, such as Switzerland, for an assisted death.

In Germany, parliament’s lower house, the Bundestag, in 2023 considered two proposals to regulate assisted dying and rejected both of them.

John Leicester in Paris, Pan Pylas in London and Geir Moulson in Berlin, contributed to this report.

The French National Assembly is draped with the artwork "Marianne rêve" ("Marianne Dreams") by French street artist Seth, depicting Marianne the symbol of the French Republic, before lawmakers vote later on final approval of a bill allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication, in Paris, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

The French National Assembly is draped with the artwork "Marianne rêve" ("Marianne Dreams") by French street artist Seth, depicting Marianne the symbol of the French Republic, before lawmakers vote later on final approval of a bill allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication, in Paris, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron delivers his speech on the end-of-life options, April 3, 2023, at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, Pool, File)

FILE - The National Assembly is seen, Jan. 13, 2026, in Paris. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva, File)

Congressional Democrats said they are investigating the Trump administration's efforts to deport military service members and their families after The Associated Press found more than 50 active-duty troops’ spouses and parents have been detained by immigration authorities.

In a letter sent Sunday evening to the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Democrats said they will investigate whether the Pentagon and DHS are coordinating to deport military service members and their families.

“These efforts imperil military readiness, weaken service members’ morale, and betray America’s promises to the people who put their lives on the line for our nation,” according to the letter, which was signed by more than 60 lawmakers and provided to the AP.

The Pentagon declined to comment, stating it would “reply directly to the authors of the letter.”

DHS told the AP that it values service members' contributions and “U.S. military service alone does not automatically grant lawful immigration status, or exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws.”

The VA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In their letter, the Democrats provided an extensive list of questions to the agencies. They said the apparent collaboration between DHS and the military to deport troops’ families “raises both ethical and legal concerns.”

“Donald Trump is breaking our country’s promises to service members by tearing apart dozens of military families who were promised immigration protections,” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said. “That’s just plain cruel, and it’s hurting our military readiness and morale.”

Warren's office is leading the probe alongside Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth and several House Democrats.

The AP investigation found President Donald Trump's administration has rolled back protections for military families and departed from longstanding bipartisan consensus to carry out its mass deportation agenda. Service members have been forced to take leave of their duties, including delaying deployment, to care for their children after their spouses were detained.

The lawmakers pressed the administration on why military recruiters are still promoting immigration protections.

Citing the AP's reporting, the lawmakers urged the Trump administration to restore policies that had previously shielded military service members' families from immigration enforcement while allowing them to adjust their legal status.

“This report is appalling and shows the unbelievable cruelty at the center of the Trump immigration agenda,” said Blumenthal, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. “We will be demanding answers and accountability.”

The Republican chairs of the armed services and veterans’ affairs committees, Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker and Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, did not respond to requests for comment.

Last week, Trump established the Military Spouse Commission, chaired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer Rauchet, to develop policies and recommendations for improving life for troops' spouses.

“Military spouses are intrinsically linked to the good order, readiness, and retention of our military,” Trump stated in a letter published in the Federal Register on Aug. 6. “Their support and contributions to our Armed Forces are crucial to mission success.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The Defense Department said in a December letter to Democratic lawmakers, obtained by the AP, that it had not implemented any recent policy changes for noncitizen family members in the military and has not conducted analysis on how deportations impact troop readiness and morale.

Danitza James, president of Repatriate Our Patriots, an organization providing support to military families and veterans facing deportation, said troops are being betrayed.

“Our military service members are the ones that sign on the dotted line to go and defend our country and maybe not come back,” James said. “They trust our government to take care of their families, and they’re not doing that.”

Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Wendy Gbeve, not pictured, shows pictures of her parents in her home in Marysville, Calif., on Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo shows photos of his wife, Maisa Lopes Eliaser, a Brazilian national who is detained by ICE, near the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center where she is currently held, in Basile, La., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Joseph Vidrine)

Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo poses with a photo of his wife, Maisa Lopes Eliaser, a Brazilian national who is being detained by ICE, before visiting her at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, La., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Joseph Vidrine)