What's Happening in France: Euthanasia

France is in the midst of a potentially society-shifting discussion on the merits of euthanasia. Presently, the law in France allows a doctor to "laisser mourir" (allow to die) a patient but without actively practicing euthanasia. All that could change with the case of Chantal Sébire.

In early 2008, Chantal Sébire, a 52-year-old retired teacher from Dijon and mother of three, came to public attention when she appealed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy to intervene in her attempt in the French courts to obtain the right to die through euthanasia.

Sébire suffered from esthesioneuroblastoma, an extremely rare form of cancer in the nasal cavity. A tumor had burrowed through her sinuses and nasal cavities, causing her nose to swell to several times its original size and pushing one eyeball out of the socket, completely exposing it.

Appealing on French television last month for the right to die, Sébire said she could no longer see properly, taste or smell. She described how children ran away from her in the street.

"One would not allow an animal to go through what I have endured," she said.

She lost her appeal at the Dijon magistrate’s court on March 17, 2008. Two days later she was found dead in her home. An autopsy concluded that she did not die of natural causes.

Sébire’s case has attracted a lot of sympathy, and some politicians are discussing whether they should try to change the law or at least allow an exception clause for “special situations.”

Cases such as these appear to pit sympathy against “heartless” ethics. In a world that is not moored in absolute morals, we should expect “ethical behavior” to change with the passing emotions of the day.

Please pray for the French people that they would understand that true compassion is not offering a person the gift of death, but the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ.