The French government has announced it will propose to the Senate examining two end-of-life bills after the budget project, to resolve the debate before the 2027 presidential election. These texts, adopted in first reading at the National Assembly in late May, cover palliative care and aid in dying. Successive delays due to the political crisis have postponed their initially planned October review.
Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon stated in an interview with Le Parisien published on October 18 that the government will propose to the Senate inscribing the two texts on palliative care and active aid in dying after the budget examination. "This debate must be settled before the 2027 presidential election," she assured.
The two bills were adopted in first reading at the National Assembly in late May. The first, consensual, addresses palliative care. The second, more sensitive, aims to create a "right to aid in dying" to authorize and accompany a patient in self-administering a lethal substance, or having it administered if physically unable, thereby legalizing assisted suicide and, exceptionally, euthanasia.
Initially, the Senate planned two weeks of examination starting October 7, but the censure of François Bayrou's government caused a delay. A discussion was then considered from October 20, but Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's resignation on October 6—followed by reappointment—prevented it. These delays raise fears of failing to reach a final vote before 2027, requiring two readings per chamber. The Senate, dominated by the right and center, may amend the aid in dying text.
"We are in a stalemate," denounced MoDem deputy Olivier Falorni, the originator of the bills, on France Inter on October 18. According to him, "the majority LR group [in the Senate] is doing everything to prevent this debate from happening." He urges the government to schedule the texts or resort to a referendum.