French couple, 86, slam 'cruel' law in suicide note

France has been moved in recent days by the suicide of Georgette and Bernard Cazes, an 86-year-old couple who died together in a luxury Paris hotel on Friday. The couple, together since their teens, had checked into the world-famous Hotel Lutetia on Thursday night, and taken medication designed to induce a painless death, according to Le Parisien. They were found dead, hand-in-hand, in their bed on Friday morning by a member of staff, with two letters left by their bedside. On Monday it was revealed that one of them contained a scathing attack on France’s prohibition of euthanasia, which has provoked renewed debate on the issue.

“By what right can a person be forced into a cruel [situation], when they wish to end their life peacefully?” asked the letter, excerpted in Le Parisien on Monday. “Isn’t my freedom only limited by the freedom of others? By what right can they prevent a person [from ending their life peacefully], when they’ve paid their taxes, have no debts to the state, have worked all their lives, and then done voluntary service?”

Georgette, in particular, expressed her anger at being denied the “gentle death” they sought, by France’s long-standing ban on euthanasia. Underlining the couple’s determination, their eldest son told Le Parisien on Monday that they had made their decision to die together “several decades ago.” “They feared being separated or dependent, more than they feared death,” he added. The episode has reignited a debate in France about the legal status of assisted suicide and euthanasia.

http://www.thelocal.fr/20131125/couple-86-blast-french-law-suicide-lutetia-hotel-euthanasia-paris