Emmanuel Macron will present a new “aid in dying” bill that will allow terminally ill people to end their lives at home using lethal medication.
The move towards legalising euthanasia follows a long consultation with a committee of French citizens on “active assistance to dying” and studies showing that most French citizens support such end-of-life options.
However, it has sparked ire among religious leaders in the traditionally Catholic country, along with many health workers.
Only adults with full control of their judgement, suffering an incurable and life-threatening illness in the short to medium term and whose pain cannot be relieved will be able to “ask to be helped to die”, Mr Macron told the La Croix and Liberation newspapers.
The change is necessary “because there are situations you cannot humanely accept”, said Mr Macron. The goal was “to reconcile an individual’s autonomy with the nation’s solidarity”.
Mr Macron said: “With this bill, we are facing up to death.”
Last week, the president, oversaw the inscribing of the right to abortion in France’s Constitution. It became the first country in the world to do so.
The controversial “aid in dying” bill will be debated in parliament starting May 27, just two weeks before European Parliament elections, but is unlikely to be enacted until next year.
Detailing the law, Mr Macron said minors and patients suffering psychiatric or neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s would not be eligible.
Patients who seek to enter the process will need to reconfirm their choice after 48 hours and they should then receive an answer from a medical team within two weeks maximum, said Mr Macron. A doctor will then deliver a prescription, valid for three months, for the lethal medication.