France: Major assisted suicide setback

Assisted dying proposals in France have suffered a major setback and the bill may now be unworkable after the French Senate failed to agree on who should be eligible for assisted suicide and strengthened citizens’ rights to pain relief until death.

The bill had originally been passed by the National Assembly last year but the Senate, the parliament’s upper chamber, narrowly rejected the provisions of Article 4, which states who is eligible for assisted suicide and is considered to be one of the bill’s most important elements.

The vote followed disagreements over proposed amendments to Article 4 and a failure to agree on a compromised position. The Senate’s Social Affairs Committee’s recommendation to narrow its scope was described by proponents of the bill as being too limiting, while other senators saw original proposals as being too wide in scope.