The French Senate rejected a central article of an end-of-life bill on Wednesday, January 21, which outlined conditions for a right to aid in dying. The vote passed 144 against 123, stripping the text of its core, amid reluctance from various political groups. Debates will continue, but the process may revert primarily to the National Assembly.
The Senate voiced strong reservations about creating a right to aid in dying by removing, on January 21, the article setting conditions for access to assisted suicide or euthanasia. Passed 144 against 123, this rejection stems largely from the right, opposed to any form of aid in dying, and the socialist group, which criticizes the Senate version for straying from the balanced text passed in the National Assembly in May 2025.
Philippe Mouiller, president of the social affairs commission (Les Républicains), lamented: 'The entire text is emptied of meaning today, as its cornerstone has fallen.' Despite this, debates on the bill proposed by deputy Olivier Falorni (MoDem) will continue in the upper house.
Patrick Kanner, leader of the socialist senators, called the evening 'sad' for the Senate, accusing the majority of 'ridiculing the Upper House on an essential issue for the French.' Centrist Loïc Hervé retorted: 'You can't ask senators opposed to euthanasia and assisted suicide to vote for an article like that. It's impossible.'
A solemn vote on the full text is scheduled for January 28, but it may prove symbolic. Some call for withdrawing the proposal, but Health Minister Stéphanie Rist refuses, arguing it would halt the parliamentary shuttle. Divergences in the Senate, between right, centrists, and socialists, make consensus unlikely, leaving the National Assembly as the main decider.