French MPs back law to allow assisted dyingAs currently framed, the French version would be not as permissive as in the Netherlands or neighbouring Belgium, which were the first countries in Europe to legalise assisted dying. It would make France the eighth country in the European Union to allow a version of assisted dying. French MPs have voted to allow some people in the last stages of a terminal illness the right to assisted dying. It is estimated that 48% of French patients who require palliative care do not get it. However, it would be a crime punishable by two years in jail to try to block an act of assisted dying.