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Cancer patient dies after making plea to take life
Published on Fri, Mar 21, 2008 at 15:53, Updated on Fri, Mar 21, 2008 at 16:25 in World » World360 section
Tags: Euthanasia, Esthesioneuroblastoma , Paris
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Paris: The death of a French woman fighting for her right to die has rekindled the debate around euthanasia in France.
52-year-old Chantal Sebire from Dijon, France, had wanted to die. For eight years she suffered from a rare and — her doctors say — incurable form of nasal cancer called esthesioneuroblastoma. Madame Sebire insisted that there was no reason why, since the disease was slowly killing her anyway, that doctors should not be permitted to hasten the process and assist her in committing suicide.
But euthanasia is illegal in France. French law permits only passive euthanasia, which is removing feeding and hydration tubes when a person is in a coma or inducing coma and then removing the tubes.
Madame Sebire's lawyer had tried to persuade a French court that it is “barbaric” to put her through the ordeal of dying slowly in an artificial coma.
At the same time Madame Sebire wrote a letter to President Nicolas Sarkozy to appeal for help, but he responded by suggesting that top doctors should reexamine her for a second opinion.
Her plight and the questions it raised caused public debate so intensive, that when she was found dead late Wednesday night it was front-page news.
An association called Right to Die with Dignity, which took up Madame Sebire's cause, believes laws have to be changed to take into account cases like hers.
“It is not the liberty of a politician or a doctor. It's the liberty of the person who is suffering,” says Right To Die With Dignity association Member Jean-Luc Romero.
But in this nominally catholic country others disagree, especially the church.
“It isn't because a citizen says I want this that we should modify the law. The law is already quite open,” Jesuit Bio-Ethics Expert Patrick Vaspieren says.
France's Prime Minister, Health and justice ministers have made it clear that they did not believe changes in French laws are needed, and the medical examiner is now looking into exactly how she died to determine if anything illegal may have taken place.
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