France: Euthanasia debate woman found dead
Posted on March 20th, 2008 by bile Tags: Chantal Sebire, crime, death, euthanasia, France, free will, freedom, French court, healthcare, law permits, liberty, nanny state, Nicolas Sarkozy, politics, privacy, suicide, Uncategorized, your rightsA French woman severely disfigured by facial tumors has been been found dead just two days after a court rejected her request for an assisted suicide.
Medical examiners were Thursday looking into the death of 52-year-old Chantal Sebire — whose case had prompted nominally Roman Catholic France to reexamine its stance on euthanasia — to determine whether anything illegal had taken place.
It was not immediately clear how Sebire died.
Sebire had suffered from esthesioneuroblastoma, a rare and incurable form of cancer for eight years, developing tumors in her nasal passages and sinuses that distorted her face and caused her nose and eyes to bulge.
The woman from Dijon, in eastern France, said drugs were ineffective against the excruciating pain caused by the condition and there was no reason doctors should not be permitted to hasten her death.
Assisted suicide is illegal in France, however. The law permits only passive euthanasia — removing feeding and hydration tubes when a person is in a coma, or inducing a coma and then removing the tubes.
Sebire’s lawyer had tried to convince a French court that it was “barbaric” to put her through the ordeal of dying slowly in an artificial coma, something that could take up to two weeks while her three children looked on in anguish.
The court turned down the appeal Monday.
At the same time, Sebire wrote a letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy appealing for help, but he responded by suggesting top doctors should reexamine her for a second opinion.
This is really really sick. The courts decision was bad but Sarkozy’s was worse. As if this woman hadn’t gotten every single opinion reasonable. People treat their pets more humanely. I’m glad this woman spent the time to fight for death rights instead of just going and killing herself when she originally wanted to do so. In fact her suicide just two days after being denied the right to do so kept the situation fresh and I think expanded the effectiveness of what she tried to accomplish.
One Response to “France: Euthanasia debate woman found dead”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:46 am
update: A prosecutor in Dijon, eastern France, said Friday it was unclear whether Chantal Sebire died of natural or unnatural causes.
"I ask to be helped to die because I don’t want this tumor to have the last word. I didn’t fight for seven and a half years to have it having the last word."