Assisted dying: the grievances before the Constitutional Council, a radiography of a legally fragile law

Context

We had followed the final vote on the law of July 15, 2026 on end-of-life assistance and the promise to refer the matter to the Constitutional Council. On July 23, 2026, Aleteia publishes a radiography of the ten objections raised in the briefs filed between July 16 and 20, 2026 by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Senate President Gérard Larcher, the LR parliamentary group (senators and deputies), and the RN group (deputies).

The Facts

No lawyer is named in the briefs, which are directly presented by the government and the parliamentary groups. Three objections are semantic: the law does not use the word "euthanasia" nor the word "assisted suicide," the condition of "advanced stage" does not provide any specific time frame for the vital prognosis, the 48-hour reflection period is presented as manifestly insufficient compared to the 10 to 15 days practiced elsewhere. These are followed by the absence of mandatory psychiatric expertise, a registry for the protection of adults under guardianship (Article 427-1) that does not exist until December 31, 2028, the absence of an exception for private denominational establishments (infringement of the freedom to undertake), a formalism that admits a will that can be expressed "orally or through facial expressions," late information on risks (15% of vomiting or convulsions, 33% of deaths beyond one hour, 7.6% beyond six hours), the exclusion of relatives from any recourse before the act, and finally the infringement of the principle of human dignity by the introduction of a "legal availability" of life.

Doctrinal Analysis

The principle of the indisponibility of human life, invoked on the basis of constitutional dignity, joins the Catholic doctrine. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in its n° 2277, holds euthanasia to be morally unacceptable. John Paul II, in Evangelium Vitae n° 65 (March 25, 1995), qualifies it as a "grave violation of the Law of God, as a deliberate murder, morally unacceptable, of a human person." Saint Augustine, in De libero arbitrio (I, 5, 11; PL 32, 1227), writes "non videtur esse lex, quae iusta non fuerit": what is not just does not appear as law. Saint Thomas echoes this formula in the Summa Theologica (I-II, q. 96, a. 4).

Stakes for the Church and the Faithful

If the Constitutional Council declares certain articles unconstitutional, a corrective parliamentary shuttle would suspend the promulgation of the implementing decrees. Compliance with reservations would validate the law but impose corrections by circular, notably on the conscience clause and the regime of private denominational establishments.

Critical Reading and Blind Spots

The weakness of the recourse lies in the fact that no primary source of natural law is included: dignity is pleaded solely on the basis of positive constitutional law. The Magisterium, on the other hand, bases it on creation in the image of God (Gn 1, 27). The fact that Rome is not cited is explained by the logic of the dispute, but leaves the doctrine out of the law.

To Meditate and Act

Pray for the nine wise men, write to your parliamentarian, support the Little Sisters of the Poor and the congregations managing health establishments. To watch: the decision calendar of the Council, the attitude of the diocesan bishops, the institutional conscience clause.