After more than three years of debate, deputies will examine from this Monday, June 22, 2026, in public session, the bill establishing a "right to assisted dying". This is the third reading of a bill with a chaotic parliamentary journey: adopted twice by the National Assembly — in May 2025, then in February 2026 by 299 votes to 226 — but rejected twice by the Senate, which is largely hostile. The failure of the joint committee, in early June, sent the bill back to the Palais-Bourbon.

A tight schedule

The schedule is now under tension: examination in the hemicycle until June 26, a solemn vote on June 30, a new reading in the Senate in early July, and a final vote by the deputies expected on July 15 — the National Assembly having the last word in case of persistent disagreement. The government's stated objective is for the law to come into effect before the end of the presidential term, which requires rapid promulgation and the adoption of several implementing decrees during the summer.

Five conditions for access

The bill provides for five cumulative conditions to access assisted dying: being of legal age, residing in France stably and regularly, suffering from a serious and incurable condition affecting the prognosis of life in an "advanced phase", experiencing physical or psychological suffering refractory to all treatment, and being able to express one's will freely and knowingly. The procedure relies on a collegial decision by several doctors, with regulated reflection periods.

An increasingly narrow majority

The outcome remains uncertain. While a majority seems to have been secured, the gap is narrowing with each vote, and at least eighteen elected officials from all parties have switched from "yes" to "no" between the last two readings. Opponents, from learned societies of palliative care to religious authorities, denounce a bill considered vague — particularly on the notion of "advanced phase" — and a procedure that is too rapid. Several associations, including Alliance Vita, organized rallies across France on June 22.

The core debate

For supporters, the emphasis is on the right of patients to choose a dignified end, on personal autonomy, and on the limits of palliative care when no solution can alleviate suffering. Some proponents also recall that French citizens are already traveling to Belgium or Switzerland to benefit from equivalent procedures, creating a de facto inequality of access based on income. The bill simultaneously provides for a significant strengthening of resources for palliative care units, whose territorial coverage remains highly uneven.

Editorial opinion

The real challenge of the next two weeks lies less in the final vote than in the precise content of the bill that will be promulgated. The definitions adopted for the "advanced phase" and for "refractory suffering" will, more than any debate of principle, determine the real scope of the measure. It is in these technical lines, more than in platform speeches, that the impact of the law will be decided.