{"id":1157613,"date":"2026-08-19T14:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T14:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1157613\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T14:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T14:17:14","slug":"health-workers-and-pharmacies-in-france-may-opt-out-of-the-assisted-dying-process-evangelical-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1157613\/","title":{"rendered":"Health workers and pharmacies in France may opt out of the assisted dying process, Evangelical Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"

The French Constitutional Council recently upheld legislation passed by the French parliament<\/a> in mid-July, that grants adults suffering from an incurable condition the right to assisted dying<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the controversial law, the patient must be 18 years old; a French<\/a> national or a long-term resident; suffer from a pain that is either unresponsive to treatment or unbearable; and be able of expressing an informed choice right up to the very end of his or her life.<\/p>\n

A medical doctor is responsible for verifying the patient\u2019s ability to choose to put an end to life, but afterwards a panel will assess whether the criteria have been met.<\/p>\n

All Evangelical Focus news and opinion,\u00a0on your WhatsApp<\/a><\/p>\n

Once the assisted dying is approved, the patients must wait at least two days before the procedure can take place, and confirm their decision on the same day.<\/p>\n

The patients would then administer a lethal substance themselves, with exceptions for those who are physically unable<\/a> to do so – they would be helped by a healthcare worker.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister, S\u00e9bastien Lecornu, the Senate President G\u00e9rard Larcher and groups of lawmakers from the right, centre and far right had asked the Constitunial Council to review the assisted dying law.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s highest constitutional authority stated that \u201cno provision of the law contravened the Constitution\u201d.<\/p>\n

President Emmanuel Macron<\/a>, welcomed the Constitunial Council decision \u201cwhich brings an exemplary democratic debate to a close\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the Council identified three \u201cinterpretative reservations\u201d, which do not require the law to be rewritten, but call for greater clarity in its practical application.<\/p>\n

The first reservation states that private and faith-based healthcare institutions may refuse to allow assisted dying on their premises, \u201cwhen such a procedure is clearly contrary to the institution’s statutory mission or purpose\u201d\u00a0and only if a local alternative exists.<\/p>\n

The second grants healthcare workers and pharmacists a conscience clause<\/a> that allows them to opt out of the process or the preparation of the lethal substance.<\/p>\n

The final reservation concerns patients under guardianship or trusteeship. If one of them requests assistance in dying, the doctor will have to \u201ctake into account\u201d the opinion of their guardian.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) has welcomed the French Constitutional Council ruling, reported the news website, Christian Daily International.<\/p>\n

The ECLJ Director, Gr\u00e9gor Puppinck defined it as \u201ca great victory\u00a0within the grim context surrounding the adoption of this unjust law\u201d.<\/p>\n

He thanked God because \u201cthere will continue to be sanctuaries in France where vulnerable people will not be in mortal danger\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, he lamented that the council endorsed the short 48-hour window to confirm a person\u2019s wish to die and \u201cthe serious risks of abuse created by this law\u201d.<\/p>\n

The ECLJ is preparing \u201cto challenge the implementing decrees that will be adopted by the government\u201d, as well as \u201cto counsel families who will be faced with a decision regarding the euthanasia of a loved one\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue this fight in other countries that have already legalized euthanasia, in order to guarantee the freedom of faith-based institutions there as well\u201d, concluded Puppinck.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n Published in: Evangelical Focus<\/a> – europe<\/a>
\n – Health workers and pharmacies in France may opt out of the assisted dying process\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The French Constitutional Council recently upheld legislation passed by the French parliament in mid-July, that grants adults suffering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1157614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2935,25728,63422,134763,37213,312736,25726,2000,299,314676,194243,59434,25727,36,314677,105,89039,2725,26331,25729,55283],"class_list":["post-1157613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-france","tag-assisted-dying","tag-church-news","tag-conscientious-objection","tag-consent","tag-constitution","tag-constitutional-council","tag-digital-evangelical-news","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european-centre-for-law-and-justice","tag-europechristian-news","tag-euthanasia","tag-evangelical-news","tag-france","tag-guardianship","tag-health","tag-health-workers","tag-law","tag-pharmacy","tag-religion-news","tag-reservations"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117122606475388289","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1157613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1157614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1157613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1157613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1157613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}