It looks as though the French Government really is going to legalise Assisted Dying. The National Assembly voted to do so by 291 votes to 241 on the 15th July.
This is the fourth time the National Assembly has passed such a vote. On each of the previous three occasions, the Senate has then blocked the legislation. So will the same thing happen again ? Apparently not. By passing the vote for a fourth time, the members of the National Assembly have effectively removed the right of the Senate to stop it.
President Macron is strongly in favour. His current Prime Minister is not. Therefore the Prime Minister has referred the matter to France’s Constitutional Council for a decision. This Council cannot debate the rights and wrongs of Assisted Dying itself but can only decide whether or not the new Bill contravenes the French Constitution in any way. They are, apparently, unlikely to stop the Bill entirely.
The Bill is likely to become law in the early part of 2027. This will have some impact upon the Swiss providers of Voluntary Assisted Dying services – our forecasts indicate that around 150 French citizens will travel to Switzerland in 2026 for a VAD. However, the French law (like most of those in the USA) will be very restrictive. In order to qualify, an applicant must have an illness which is “serious, incurable and life-threatening” and it must be “in its advanced or terminal condition”. It seems likely, therefore, that although this new law will represent significant progress, the flow of French people to the Swiss centres will not be enormously affected.
