Euthanasia: New French law would be the most repressive in the world with regard to religious institutions

According to the proposed law on the “right to aid in dying,” as adopted by the French National Assembly, those in charge of retirement homes or healthcare facilities who refuse to allow euthanasia and assisted suicide within their establishments would be guilty of obstruction and liable to two years in prison and a €30,000 fine. No other law in the world is as severe. This obligation applies to all healthcare and medico-social establishments, both public and private, whether or not they are funded by public money. An establishment that refuses to allow these practices would also be liable to sanctions from the Regional Health Agency.

Admittedly, the proposed law recognizes the right of conscientious objection for doctors and healthcare staff when it comes to euthanasia and assisted suicide. However, it deliberately ignores the freedom of institutions to refuse these practices within their walls. Yet this freedom is essential, particularly for religious institutions founded and run by religious congregations. Without respect for this freedom, these institutions would be forced to act against their religious convictions and their raison d'être. This would be a grave injustice and an attack on their religious freedom.

Some countries have understood this well. This is the case in the United States, where the relevant federal states explicitly protect the right of any institution to refuse to perform assisted suicide.

Oregon's legislation also inspired a 2010 resolution by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe stating that "No person, hospital or institution shall be coerced, held liable or discriminated against in any manner because of a refusal to perform, accommodate, assist . . . euthanasia . . . for any reason."

This is also the case in the Netherlands, where euthanasia was decriminalized in 2002, but without constituting an individual “right.” As a result, no institution is required to perform euthanasia. Similarly, in New Zealand, the High Court ruled that the law "does not require hospices or other organizations to provide aid in dying services. They have the right to choose not to provide these services." The government cannot compel or financially penalize institutions that refuse to perform euthanasia. In these countries, it is sufficient to allow the transfer of patients who wish to die to other institutions.

In other countries, however, the freedom of institutions is less explicitly guaranteed.

In Portugal, for example, the law of May 2023 is silent on the freedom of institutions. This led the Bishops' Conference to demand this freedom in a pastoral letter dated May 1, 2025. The bishops emphasize that "Freedom of conscience also has a community and institutional dimension. An institution founded on ethics (such as a Catholic hospital) should not be forced to perform acts contrary to its founding ethical identity." The situation is still uncertain.

In Spain, the situation is also confusing. While euthanasia was legalized in 2021, large Catholic institutions declared that they would refuse to accommodate this practice after the Constitutional Court upheld the law in March 2022.

In Switzerland, the situation varies from one canton to another. In Neuchâtel, for example, only state-funded institutions are required to accommodate aid in dying organizations, but only when it is impossible to move or send home people who wish to die. This “solution” was accepted by the Federal Court on September 13, 2016, on the grounds that such an institution can still avoid the controversial obligation by renouncing its public funding.

Finally, in a third group of countries, access to euthanasia has become a weapon used against Catholic institutions to force them to renounce their values. This is the case in Belgium and Canada.

While the silence of the 2002 Belgian law on this issue allowed religious institutions to avoid the practice of euthanasia and assisted suicide, a 2020 law prohibited them from asking their employees not to perform these practices within their institutions. At the same time, 15 psychiatric hospitals run by the Brothers of Charity lost their Catholic status, following a decision by the Vatican, for having accepted euthanasia.

In Canada, the situation is difficult. While “aid in dying” was legalized in 2016, a Quebec Superior Court judge ruled on March 1, 2024, that the right to euthanasia takes precedence over the religious freedom of Catholic institutions. In summary proceedings brought by the Archbishop of Montreal, Christian Lépine, the Court denied Maison St-Raphaël, a palliative care center housed in a former church, the right to “temporarily” refuse to allow the practice of voluntary death within its walls, pending a decision on the merits of the case. The case is reportedly still pending.

In British Columbia, Home Irene Thomas, another facility that cared for people at the end of their lives, lost its public funding, representing 94% of its budget, because of its refusal to perform euthanasia. As for the large Saint Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, also in British Columbia, it is currently being sued. It is accused of refusing to perform euthanasia despite being publicly funded, after transferring a patient who wished to die to another facility that accepts euthanasia.

Euthanasia laws are relatively recent and conflict with the long-standing rights of freedom of conscience and religion. Lawmakers should look at the case law of the United Nations Committees and the European Court of Human Rights, which recognize the freedom of religious institutions and protect their “autonomy.”

With regard to the proposed French law, it is important to be aware of the considerable infringement it represents on the freedom of religious institutions. No other law in the world is as repressive. No other law expressly requires all institutions to provide euthanasia and assisted suicide, and no other law combines such a requirement with criminal penalties of imprisonment and fines.

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Opinion piece published in French in La Croix: “La loi sur l’euthanasie forcerait les établissements confessionnels à agir contre leurs convictions religieuses,” November 6, 2025.