“She committed suicide and I was present”: in the Assembly, Sandrine Rousseau says she “helped” her mother die

“I helped my mother die, she committed suicide, and I was there. Who am I to stop him from doing this? » Environmental lawmaker Sandrine Rousseau gave searing testimony to the National Assembly on Wednesday, explaining that she witnessed the suicide of her mother, seriously ill and “suffering”, while respecting her choice to end her life.

The Parisian MP spoke before the special commission responsible for considering the government’s end-of-life bill, which heard from leaders of the main religions. The latter expressed “concerns” about the text.

Having said to “respect” the positions of representatives of religion, Sandrine Rousseau called for taking into account the “suffering” of people “whose death is very close.” “There is no one who will be affected by this law who will not die in the near future. The question is not so much about the attitude towards death, but about the attitude towards suffering in this death,” she insisted.

His mother is suffering from cancer

Sandrine Rousseau said back in 2013 that her mother, suffering from incurable cancer, decided to commit suicide by taking medication at the age of 68. She explained that she watched helplessly as her mother suffered a slow agony that lasted a total of nine hours.

“Of course, we are talking about death, but what is not in your words is the suffering of these people. For people of the Church and believers, suffering is of great importance,” she concluded.

MP from the Republic of Lithuania Philippe Juvin, an anesthesiologist and resuscitator by profession, admitted shortly before he “practised deep sedation” with his father. “I didn’t kill my father, I helped him. The difference is fundamental,” he explained to the special commission.