US EditionRight-to-Die Activists on Trial in France as Lawmakers Debate End-of-Life Bill
Twelve elderly activists face charges for aiding illegal access to euthanasia drug pentobarbital amid France's ongoing right-to-die legislative debate, with trials continuing through October.
- Twelve activists from Ultime Liberté went on trial in Paris on September 15 for allegedly helping people illegally obtain pentobarbital for assisted suicide in France.
- The trial followed a 2019 investigation triggered by a US report on a network shipping liquid pentobarbital disguised as cosmetics worldwide, with searches conducted across France in October 2019.
- The defendants, who are mostly retired professionals aged between 74 and 89, are accused of distributing prohibited drugs and could be sentenced to up to a decade in prison; they also advocate for the right to age with dignity and to choose a peaceful death.
- France’s draft right-to-die legislation, which passed its first reading in the lower house in May, limits medical assistance in dying to patients experiencing an advanced stage of illness. If enacted, France would become part of a small group of European nations, including Austria, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland, that permit aid in dying under specific conditions.
- The trial, set to conclude on October 9, aims to raise public awareness on end-of-life issues amid ongoing national debate and opposition from religious leaders and health workers.
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Twelve assisted dying activists go on trial in Paris
On Monday, the trial of 12 elderly members of an organization accused of helping people obtain a lethal drug began in Paris. This comes as lawmakers are considering a bill that could legalize assisted dying under strict conditions.
Twelve right-to-die activists to go on trial in Paris
Twelve activists accused of helping people in France to illegally obtain a euthanasia drug used for physician-assisted death in some countries were set to go on trial in Paris on Monday, as the country debates a right-to-die bill.
From Monday, 15 September, 12 activists from an association advocating the "right to a mild voluntary death" appear before the Paris Correctional Court for smuggling and illegal detention of drugs or complicity. A trial that takes a particular focus in the context of the debate on the end of life.
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