France: The Imminent Legalization of Assisted Suicide

This bill, which will be debated in public session starting May 12, would authorize patients suffering from a "serious and incurable condition" that is life-threatening, whether in an advanced or terminal stage, to receive or self-administer a lethal substance.

The bill sets out five cumulative criteria for access to this "assisted dying": being an adult, residing in France, suffering from a serious and incurable illness that is life-threatening, experiencing unbearable physical or psychological suffering, and being capable of expressing a free and informed will. While these conditions are intended to be strict, they remain ambiguous and subject to dangerously broad interpretations. The removal of the notion of a life-threatening prognosis "in the short or medium term," present in the initial 2024 draft, considerably broadens the scope of the text. From now on, patients whose death is not imminent could be affected, opening the door to the trivialization of euthanasia and assisted suicide.

This legislation reflects a profound anthropological rupture, denounced by many intellectuals and healthcare professionals. In an opinion piece published by Le Figaro, a group of prominent figures, including former ministers and scientists, warned of the "inconsistencies and approximations" of the text, which risk transforming an exceptional measure into a "self-determination law" affecting thousands of patients.

Psychoanalyst Roland Chvetzoff, for his part, emphasized that the desire to die often expresses a feeling of loneliness, advocating for humane support rather than a lethal solution. These voices remind us that true dignity lies in love and solidarity, not in the taking of life.

The development sanctioned by the vote of the Assembly's Social Affairs Committee on May 2nd was even denounced by figures such as Agnès Firmin-Le Bodo, former Minister of Health—hardly suspected of sharing the values ​​of the fight for life—who saw it as a "break" with the "balance" initially sought.

"It is no longer the same law at all," she lamented, highlighting the risk that people with a long-term life-threatening condition could request death. LR MP Patrick Hetzel, for his part, castigated a text that slides towards a legal framework combining euthanasia and assisted suicide, far from the exception initially envisaged.

It would have to be, at the very least, quite naive to think that a "balance" or an "exceptional right" can emerge when we refuse to proclaim this fundamental truth: the sacredness of all human life, from conception to death. A truth enshrined in natural law, and one that the Catholic Church defends against all odds.

May 2025 is no longer the time for lilies of the valley or cherries, but the month when national representation finds itself at a crossroads where it will have to choose between ethics and chaos. The bill on assisted dying, despite its compassionate appearances, threatens to undermine the foundations of life in society. As the debates in the Chamber promise to be lively, let us pray that wisdom will prevail.