Petition addressed to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Dear Members of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
The ECLJ, supported by 14,304 signatories, sent you a letter on May 30, 2025. This letter presents a concern with the proposed law on the right to die: this law, adopted by the national assembly, claims to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide. This proposed law violates the rights of persons with disabilities.
In a letter addressed to France on June 23, 2025, your Committee stated that it had “received credible information indicating that the approval of [the aforementioned bill] would constitute a violation of the State party's obligation to respect, protect, and guarantee the right to life of persons with disabilities.” We thank you for hearing our appeal and for consequently initiating a procedure requiring France to provide further information on the proposed law on the right to aid in dying.
On August 1, 2025, in response to a request from your Committee, the ECLJ sent the Committee a Memorandum explaining how the Government actively supported the bill, including its most worrying effects on the rights of persons with disabilities, and responding point by point to the questions raised by the Committee.
As you have a specific mandate to protect the rights of persons with disabilities, we ask you in this petition:
- to remind France of its international obligations in this area and to urge it to reconsider the proposed law on euthanasia in light of these obligations.
- initiate a reporting and investigation procedure on the respect of the rights of persons with disabilities in countries that have legalized euthanasia.
