France set to be 14th country to allow assisted dying — here are all countries allowing it

The French National Assembly on Wednesday adopted a landmark bill after years of debate which creates the legal right to assisted dying for individuals with incurable illnesses.

The lower house adopted the bill by 291 votes to 241.

The legislation will allow an individual to receive lethal substances if they request it under strict conditions. The substance should primarily be self-administered (voluntary assisted dying) and only if the patient’s physical condition does not allow them to do so, administered by a doctor or a nurse (medically assisted dying).

Patients must be at least 18 years of age and either citizens or legal residents of France. A doctor must first consult a team of healthcare professionals and then confirm that the patient has an incurable and life-threatening illness. They must be in an advanced or terminal stage wherein they experience pain that cannot be relieved and seek lethal medication of their own free will.

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Medically assisted dying is legalised in 13 countries and legalised in certain regions of three countries. Here is the full list:

Legalised

1. Austria

Since January 2022, Austria has had a law that permits voluntary assisted dying after the Austrian Constitutional Court in 2020 declared that the prohibition was too strict and violated a person’s right to self-determination.

Access is limited to adults who suffer from serious, incurable, and permanent illness that leads to a ‘permanent impairment of the way of life.’ There is no explicit citizenship requirement in the penal code exemption.

2. Belgium

Belgium became the second country to legalise medically assisted dying in May 2002. It has one of the world’s most established and liberal laws for the practice.

The Act was amended in 2014 to extend the right to minors with the ‘capacity of discernment’ and parental consent. Access is available to people with serious incurable conditions that cause unbearable suffering with no residency requirement, allowing foreign patients to access it too.

3. Canada

Canada permits medical assistance in dying (Maid) following federal legislation in 2016 that de-criminalised voluntary assisted dying and medical assisted dying. It is available to citizens and residents eligible for the national healthcare system.

In 2021, eligibility criteria was amended by removing the ‘reasonable foreseeability of natural death’. Access for people whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness was temporarily delayed.

4. Colombia

Colombia became the first country in Latin America to decriminalise assisted dying for terminally ill patients in 1997, but the law remained dormant until 2015 due to lack of regulation after a direct order from the Court.

Citizens and foreign residents of Colombia above 18 years of age who suffer from intense physical or psychological suffering that they consider incompatible with their dignity are eligible. The law was updated in 2021 removing the requirement for the patient to be ‘terminally ill’.

5. Cuba

Cuba officially recognised the right to a ‘dignified death’ in December 2023 in a legislation that integrated it to the country’s public health framework.

Patients must be diagnosed with a chronic, degenerative, and irreversible disease or be in the terminal phase of their life. They must be experiencing intractable physical or psychological suffering that cannot be alleviated. The law applies to Cuban citizens and foreign residents of the country.

6. Ecuador

In February 2024, the Constitutional Court of this Latin American country, in a landmark ruling, decriminalised euthanasia and clarified that the right to life does not imply an obligation to suffer and that a dignified life includes the agency to choose a dignified death.

The patient must be suffering from a serious and irreversible bodily injury or a serious and incurable disease. The law applies to Ecuadorian citizens and its foreign residents

7. Germany

In February 2020, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a ruling that the ‘general right of personality’ includes the ‘right to a self-determined death’ and the right to ‘make use of assistance provided by third parties for this purpose.’ The right is not limited to those with terminal illnesses and there is no strict legal residency or age requirement.

8. Luxembourg

In March 2009, Luxembourg adopted a law on assisted suicide. To request for assisted suicide, the patient has to have an incurable medical condition resulting from an accident or illness. The right is extended to patients above 18 years of age with no official residency requirement but must have a general practitioner in the country who has been their doctor for a sufficiently long and continuous period.

9. Netherlands

The Netherlands were the first country in the world to legalise assisted dying with decriminalisation in April 2002. The suffering must be “unbearable and with no prospect of improvement”. It can be physical or psychological and patients and doctors must agree there is no other solution.

The right is extended to adults with full access and for terminally ill minors with parental consent. While there is no residency requirement, a long-term doctor-patient relationship is required.

10. New Zealand

In November 2021, New Zealand began providing the service of legalised assisted dying following a legislation in 2019 that came into force after a referendum affirming support for it in 2020.

It is a fully integrated part of the health service and extended to patients suffering from irreversible physical terminal illness that is likely to end a person’s life within six months. Patients must be over 18 years of age and New Zealand citizens or permanent residents.

11. Spain

In March 2021, the Spanish Parliament approved legislation to decriminalise and regulate euthanasia and assisted dying. The patient must be suffering from a serious and incurable disease or a serious, chronic, and incapacitating condition that causes physical and psychological limitations and intolerable suffering. The right is extended to adults who must be Spanish nationals or legal residents for at least 12 months.

12. Switzerland

Switzerland is the only country in the world where assisted dying is considered a civil right rather than a medical process.

Access is available to any adult with decision-making capacity. Medically assisted dying is illegal and voluntary assisted dying is legal if selfish motives are ruled out. The right is extended to both Swiss nationals and foreigners with special assistance for foreigners

13. Uruguay

Uruguay legalised assisted dying through legislation in October 2025. Access is granted to mentally competent adults suffering from terminal, incurable, or irreversible conditions that cause unbearable suffering. Uruguayan nationals and legal residents above 18 are eligible.

Partially Legalised

1. Australia

All Australian states and Australian Capital Territory passed legislation which legalised assisted dying between 2019 and 2023. The Northern Territory is the only jurisdiction that has not yet passed legislation legalising it.

In most jurisdictions, patients must be permanent residents of Australia and residing in the respective jurisdiction for at least 12 months. Conditions vary across jurisdictions.

2. Italy

The Italian parliament has not yet passed legislation legalising the right to die. Tuscany became the first region to legalise it in February 2025. The right is extended to patients suffering from conditions causing physical or psychological suffering which they deem intolerable.

3. United States

The practice of assisted dying is legal in 10 states and Washington D.C. Oregon became the first state to legalise the practice in 1997, followed by Washington, Montana, Vermont, California, Colorado, Washington D.C., Hawaii, New Jersey, Maine, New Mexico, Delaware, and Illinois.

It will become legal in New York in August 2026. The right is extended to patients with terminal illness with residency requirements varying state-to-state.

France now joins a growing list of nations allowing assisted dying. The Constitutional Council's decision will determine whether the bill becomes law.