Votes in France's lower house of Parliament, the Assemblée Nationale, are usually a noisy affair. Party leaders shout out voting instructions while lawmakers hurry back to their seats. Yet on Tuesday, May 27, the solemn vote on a bill on assisted dying was unlike any other.

With the chamber almost full (561 out of 577 members were present), silence filled the room as the vote began, broken only by the clicking of the electronic voting devices. Silence also prevailed when the results were announced: 305 votes in favor, 199 against.

Lawmakers from centrist and left-wing parties then stood up, applauded, and congratulated one another. "Thank you, dear colleagues, for making this parliamentary debate a truly important one, and for passing a fine republican law that embodies the values of liberty, equality, and fraternity," said an emotional Olivier Falorni, the center-left MP who has championed the bill for years, adding: "There are days you know you will never forget. I will never forget this day."

Lawmakers voted on two separate but related bills, both of which will now head to the Sénat. The first, aiming to guarantee equal access to palliative care and support, was adopted unanimously with 562 votes out of 563 (and one abstention). The second, which passed with the votes of 54.4% of members present (and 57 abstentions), sought to create a right to assisted dying. The bill would allow any adult suffering from a serious and incurable condition to choose to end their own life, with a doctor's approval, if they determine that their physical or psychological suffering has become unbearable and cannot be relieved, even with treatment.

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