PARIS (Reuters) - A French woman suffering from an incurable and disfiguring cancer was found dead on Wednesday, two days after a court rejected her request for medical assistance to help end her life, a source close to the government said.
Chantal Sebire, 52, whose face was swollen and distorted bya rare tumour in her sinuses, won heavy media coverage and thecompassion of many French people in her bid to set a legalprecedent for patients like her seeking to end their suffering.
A court in the eastern city of Dijon ruled on Monday thatSebire could not have a doctor help her die because it wouldbreach both the code of medical ethics and the law, under whichassisted suicide is a crime.
No details were immediately available on the cause ofSebire's death, which was first reported on the Web site ofregional daily Le Bien Public. The source said she was founddead at her home near Dijon.
Sebire's plight sparked a public debate in mainly CatholicFrance on euthanasia, and she won the support of several publicfigures including Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. PresidentNicolas Sarkozy met her doctor on Wednesday.
The government initially ruled out passing a reform oneuthanasia, but Prime Minister Francois Fillon's office said onWednesday it would consider the issue. One proposal is for anexpert panel to allow assisted suicide in exceptional cases.
Sebire's doctors had said she would fall into a coma anddie if she stopped taking medication to deal with the raretumour, but she insisted on going to court to try to secure theright to an assisted suicide, which would be less painful.
Active euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium,Switzerland and Luxembourg, but French courts regularly ruleagainst doctors who administer lethal drugs to end life,although they are usually spared prison.
Opponents of euthanasia, including the Roman CatholicChurch, say the sanctity of life overrides all other factors.Many also say a right to kill patients could easily be abused.
"I want to die partying surrounded by my children, friendsand doctors before falling asleep for good at dawn," Sebire hadtold reporters.
(Reporting by Thierry Leveque and Jean-Baptiste Vey;writing by Francois Murphy)
