The death of a French woman fighting for her right to diehas 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.But in this nominally catholic country others disagree, especially the church.
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.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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