Macron signs law on assisted dying

The law creating the right to assisted dying in France was published in the Official Gazette today after being signed by President Emmanuel Macron after years of debate, local media reported.

The text, which was confirmed by the Constitutional Council last week, creates the right to assisted dying, or euthanasia, under several conditions for certain patients, allowing them to administer a lethal dose of medication to themselves in the presence of a healthcare professional. If, and only if, the patient is physically unable to perform the act, a healthcare professional can do so.

Several conditions must be met. The patient must be of legal age, French or a long-term resident of the country, suffer from a "severe and incurable" terminal or "advanced" illness, suffer unbearable physical suffering and be capable of expressing a wish to die.

The procedure, conducted by a single physician, requires the participation of other experts to determine whether the patient qualifies.

Before healthcare professionals can implement the law, which was definitively adopted by parliament in mid-July, the government will have to publish the necessary regulations on the law's implementation.

A relatively small group of countries have already approved this right, from Belgium and the Netherlands to Switzerland, Canada and Uruguay.

In a decision issued on Friday, the Constitutional Council ruled that no provision of this law, considered a major social reform of Emmanuel Macron's second term, violates the Constitution.