Assisted dying: Senate rejects motion, shuttling resumes

Context

In our previous edition, we followed the adoption in third reading of the bill on assisted dying by the National Assembly on June 30, 2026, and the counter-offensive launched in the Senate's social affairs committee. On July 1, the latter adopted a prior rejection motion. The text is not dead, however. The parliamentary shuttle continues.

Facts

Having received the bill in second reading, the Senate had two options: to vote on the text as it emerged from the Palais-Bourbon, with its first article opening the way to active assistance in dying, or to reject the entire system through a rejection motion. The committee chose the latter. In its report, it judged that the Claeys-Leonetti law of February 2, 2016, already provided a sufficient framework and that opening the way to active assistance in dying would constitute an irreversible anthropological shift. The text must now return to the Senate's public session. It may be adopted, rejected, or amended there. It will then return to the National Assembly.

Doctrinal Analysis

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, in number 2277, that direct euthanasia "is morally unacceptable." It constitutes "a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to respect for the living God." John Paul II, in Evangelium Vitae (n. 65), described this practice as a "grave violation of the law of God." The Second Vatican Council, in Gaudium et Spes (n. 27), already classified "voluntary suicide" and "physical or moral torture" among acts that "ruin civilization." The teaching is consistent. It does not admit gradation according to suffering.

Stakes for the Church and the Faithful

The rejection motion is not a victory. It prolongs the struggle. The Little Sisters of the Poor reaffirmed last week that they would close their homes rather than see assisted dying practiced there. The French Bishops' Conference published a solemn statement on the eve of the June 30 vote. The question of the collective conscience clause, dismissed by MPs, is becoming central. Without it, faith-based institutions will be faced with an impossible choice.

Critical Reading and Blind Spots

The European Court of Human Rights has never recognized a right to assisted dying. In Pretty v. United Kingdom (April 29, 2002), and later in Haas v. Switzerland (January 20, 2011), it explicitly recalled that Article 2 of the Convention does not include a "right to die." The French debate, however, is shifting toward an uncompromising interpretation. The text's blind spot remains the psychological fragility of vulnerable individuals facing the new legal option.

To Reflect and Act

Pray for the senators who will vote in the public session. Support the Little Sisters of the Poor. Call euthanasia by its name. "You shall not kill" (Ex 20:13) remains the first law of Christian civilization.