PARIS, July 15 (Reuters) – French lawmakers adopted on Wednesday a bill that will create a legal right to assisted dying for adults with incurable illnesses, capping an intense ethical and political debate.
The legislation will, under strict conditions, allow a person who requests it to receive a lethal substance. The substance could be self-administered or, if the person is physically unable to do so, administered by a doctor or nurse.
Access to assisted dying will be restricted to adults who are French citizens or legal residents in France, and who suffer from a serious and incurable illness that is life-threatening and in an advanced or terminal phase, experience constant physical or psychological suffering linked to that condition, and are able to express a free and informed choice.
(Reporting by Makini Brice, Dominique Vidalon, Ingrid Melander)
