France’s lower house has once again passed an assisted suicide bill, meaning it will be read again in the French Senate which has already rejected it twice.

The bill passed Tuesday by 295 votes to 232, with 35 abstentions, the latest chapter in a long parliamentary drama that began in 2022.

The bill was first read by the National Assembly in May 2025 and 305 voted in favour of it, and it was read again in February this year when 299 voted yes. On both occasions, the Senate later rejected the bill.

Tuesday’s vote in favor came predominantly from France’s left-wing and centrist parties, while the right and far-right voted against it.

French senators will take up the bill on July 7. Presuming the Senate rejects it again, the government has decided that the final vote will rest with the National Assembly on July 15.

French president Emanuel Macron promised to introduce assisted suicide legislation during his successful 2022 campaign for a second term.

“In a few moments, we will adopt a major law of freedom,” said Danielle Simonnet, the Green Party MP for Paris, and supporter of the bill. “Finally, we’re almost there.”

“This vote is the culmination of several years of work and an in-depth public debate, conducted with seriousness, respect, and dignity,” said Yaël Braun-Pivet, President of the National Assembly, on social media.

The bill has undergone over 1,800 amendments during the lengthy parliamentary process.

The law creates a right to assisted suicide for adults with grave incurable illnesses in an advanced or terminal phase – psychological suffering has now been removed following the debates.

The law has a conscience clause for healthcare professionals who don’t want to partake in the procedure, although they must refer the patient onto someone who will.

Only patients who are physically incapable of doing it themselves will have a healthcare professional administer the substance.

A team of professionals must confirm that the patient is suffering from an incurable illness “at an advanced or terminal stage,” that they are experiencing untreatable pain, and that they are seeking assisted suicide of their own free will.

Only patients who are over 18, and French citizens or residents in the country can receive the procedure, to avoid “death tourism.”

Catholic reaction

Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris released a press release stating that “reason and fraternity cry out in favor of a priority and generous promotion of palliative care.”

“Today, there is still time to renounce taking this path, which is not that of a fraternal future,” he added, also reiterating that “more than help to die, our society needs help to live.”

Vincent Jordy, Archbishop of Tours and vice president of the country’s bishops’ conference, recently spoke to Crux Now about the bill, warning that not all things that are considered progress turn out to be.

“Over the past 150 years, we have developed industrial progress that is now turning against humanity and gradually making the earth uninhabitable. What once appeared to be progress is ultimately not as obviously beneficial as it seemed. But it took time to realize this,” he said.

“The same applies to moral life and societal choices. Some choices that may seem like solutions can ultimately produce harmful effects on society. It is therefore important to help our contemporaries exercise discernment so as not to be misled by a kind of ideology of progress,” he added.

In January, before the first debate in the Senate about the bill, the French bishops released a statement saying that “palliative care is the only truly effective response to the difficult situations of the end of life,” and that proper care “almost always leads to the disappearance of requests to die among terminally ill patients.”

“We do not care for life by giving death,” they added.