Chantal Sebire’s euthanasia plea rejected
March 18, 2008
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A French court has rejected a request from a 52-year-old severely disfigured former schoolteacher for the right to die, in a case that has stirred much emotion in France.
The high court in Dijon, eastern France, decided to side with the prosecution which argued current legislation does not allow Chantal Sebire’s doctor to prescribe lethal drugs.
In her appeal to the court, Ms Sebire said she did not want to endure further pain and subject herself to an irreversible worsening of her condition. She asked the court to allow her doctor to help her end her life.
A mother of three who lives in the Bourgogne region of eastern France, Ms Sebire drew a strong outpour of sympathy when she appealed in a television interview last month for the right to “depart peacefully”.
Before-and-after pictures of the woman, her face severely deformed, have been featured in the press and her account of frightened children who run away at the sight of her has drawn sympathy.
Ms Sebire learnt in 2002 that she had developed an esthesioneuroblastoma, an uncommon malignant tumour in the nasal cavity, which she said has led to “atrocious” suffering.
“In 2000, I lost the sense of smell and taste … and I lost my sight in October 2007,” she said in the television interview.
“One would not allow an animal to go through what I have endured,” she said before urging President Nicolas Sarkozy to intervene and grant her request.
Commenting on the case, Justice Minister Rachida Dati said last week doctors were not there to prescribe lethal drugs.
Legislation adopted in 2005 allows families to request life-support equipment for a terminally-ill patient be switched off, but does not allow a doctor to take action to end a patient’s life.
Mr Sarkozy asked his chief adviser on health issues to contact Ms Sebire and seek a second opinion on her condition.
Ms Sebire has said she will not appeal the decision rendered today and she would find life-terminating drugs through other means.
“I now know how to get my hands on what I need and if I don’t get it in France, I will get it elsewhere,” she said.
Only 200 cases of the disease have been recorded worldwide in two decades.
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3 Responses to “Chantal Sebire’s euthanasia plea rejected”
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poor lady she did not deserve to go through that pain, and they wont even allow her to die
A severely disfigured French woman was found dead at her home only two days after a court rejected her request for the right to die, in a case that has stirred much emotion in France.
Sebire’s body was found at her home in the eastern town of Plombieres-les-Dijon in the Bourgogne region overnight.
The cause of her death was not immediately known, Dijon prosecutor Jean-Pierre Allachi said.
Thank God. Let her rest in Peace. They fail to mention inthe article above that she had an allergy
(not life threatning) to Morphine, which would have helped her with the pain and allow doctors to provide Pallaitive care. As a chronic pain sufferer who takes pain meds that only take the edge off the pain for 4 years, since I can not metabolize most pain meds.
Most people do not understand because you can not see pain like you can see a broken arm in a cast..this makes it hard for people to have empathy and sympathy.
Pain saps your spirit and your will to live and this poor lady had the right for peace and I am glad she is finally at peace…NO LOVING GOD would punish someone like her for reliving her pain. We put animals out for far less pain than this woman had.
Rest in peace.