Anne Bert is 59 years old and suffers from Charcot’s disease. Also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease, this neurological pathology directly attacks the neurons responsible for voluntary muscle movements – motor neurons. Charcot’s disease is incurable and affects between 5,000 and 7,000 people in France. The life expectancy of a person with ALS is approximately 3 to 5 years after diagnosis.
The Frenchwoman has made her choice: Anne Bert is preparing to make a final trip to Belgium in order to benefit from a euthanasia (lethal injection). Indeed, in France, euthanasia and assisted suicide are prohibited: only the Claeys-Leonetti law (passed in August 2016) provides for deep sedation until death. Not enough for this woman affected by Charcot’s disease.
Anne Bert has therefore decided to rant, in the form of an open letter sent to the 5 main candidates for the presidential election – François Fillon, Marine Le Pen, Emmanuel Macron, Benoît Hamon and Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
“So take your responsibilities”
“Ladies and gentlemen candidates for the 2017 presidential election, it is your duty to position yourselves regarding the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia. (…). Is putting a patient to sleep to let him die of end and thirst really more respectful of life than putting an end to it by administering a lethal product? (…) To persist in refusing the right to choose one’s end of life is to accept that French people determined to do so commit suicide in a violent way or clandestinely helped, or even go to die abroad. So take your responsibilities. »
According to a national survey published in June 2014, 89% of French people would be “for” a law legalizing euthanasia. In particular, 98% of French people over the age of 65 would be in favor of it.
