The French debate on the end of life has lasted for twenty-five years, and it is not close to being over. Amended by the Assembly on May 27, 2025, the bill on the “right to assisted dying” will be examined from January 20 by the Senate. And the discussions promise to be lively, as the subject divides.
Behind closed doors, on January 7, the Social Affairs Committee of the upper house strongly toned down its spirit. Rather than granting the patient a right to assisted suicide or euthanasia, the senators spoke out in favor of a “medical assistance in dying” system only for people in a “terminal phase”. Which restricts its scope to “those who are going to die” and not to “those who want to die”, as summarized by the LR co-rapporteurs, Christine Bonfanti-Dossat and Alain Milon. The vote will take place on January 28, before the text returns to the Assembly for second reading. The opportunity to realize that, among our neighbors too, this divisive and painful subject gives rise to debate.
In Spain, a fragile consensus
Since 2021, the “Ley Organica” authorizes euthanasia and assisted suicide. The epilogue of a long political and philosophical fight, carried out since 2002 by left-wing parties and civil organizations. But the country remains crossed by a deep ethical divide, due to the opposition of certain Christian movements, for whom this law violates article 15 of the Constitution, guaranteeing the right to life. If “assisted dying” is developing slowly (334 euthanasias in 2023, out of 766 requests), the debate is far from over.
In Belgium, legislation supported by society
In Belgium, death by euthanasia represented 3 deaths out of 100 in 2023. Passed in 2002, the law indicates that the patient must be capable of discernment, suffer from an incurable pathology, and a double medical opinion remains obligatory. Since 2014, euthanasia has been authorized for minors in hopeless medical situations. Legislation supported by the majority, and which encourages certain French people to cross the border: 106 were euthanized there in 2024, according to the Belgian Control Authority, or twice as many as in 2022.
More and more euthanasias are carried out each year across Quiévrain.
© / Manon Guibon / L’Express
In the Netherlands, a pioneering and very supervised system
By becoming the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia in 2001, the Netherlands sparked debate around the world. For their request to be accepted, a patient must meet draconian conditions, known as “thoroughness criteria”. His case must in particular be examined by a commission composed of a doctor, an ethics expert and a lawyer. Since February 2024, children under the age of 12 suffering from incurable illnesses and whose death is imminent are eligible.
In Germany, a painful subject, which revives History
In Germany, the word “euthanasia” evokes a dark era, that of the Nazi regime and its program of mass extermination. For this reason, Germany refuses any form of active euthanasia. In 2015, however, the Karlsruhe Court ruled that a patient has the right to die independently, even with the help of third parties (assisted suicide). A thousand Germans use it every year. The Bundestag has launched consultations, which could ultimately lead to a reform of euthanasia.
Poland, a still very religious country
In this country where the influence of the Catholic Church remains strong, euthanasia is illegal and will undoubtedly remain so for a long time. If the rare polls seem to indicate that the Polish population is divided on the issue, the right to assisted dying is not very present in the public debate. In medical practice, a patient suffering from an incurable illness has the possibility of refusing the continuation of a treatment administered to him, if it has no effect.
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