France's Macron announces legislation allowing 'aid in dying' under strict conditions

PARIS (AP) — French president Emmanuel Macron has announced new legislation to legalize “aid in dying” that will allow adults facing end-of-life illness to take lethal medication, a first in the country.

The move follows last year’s report indicating that most French citizens support legalizing end-of-life options.

In an interview published Monday by French newspapers La Croix and Liberation, Macron said the new bill will be restricted to adults suffering from an incurable illness who are expected to die in the “short or middle-term” and who are suffering “intractable” physical or psychological pain.

Macron said the law will offer “a possible path, in a determined situation, with precise criteria, where the medical decision is playing its role.”