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Facebook has said that it will prevent a French man suffering from a rare and incurable disease from broadcasting his death live on the platform.
Alain Cocq, who has lived with a degenerative disease for 34 years, has stopped eating, drinking and taking his medication since Friday night.
The 57-year-old man said he would broadcast his death live on social media after President Emmanuel Macron rejected his request for euthanasia.
In a video from his medical bed at his home in Dijon, this France, said: “So I have finished my last meal … I toast your health for the last time.
“The path to liberation begins and, believe me, I am happy. I have made a decision and I am at peace.”
And he added: “Yes, I know that what awaits me will be difficult. But you know, compared to everything I have been through and what awaits me, the deterioration of my body that I will be going through, in fact it is not like that” . it matters to me.
“It will be difficult to handle, I agree, but in the end it will not be much compared to what I have been through.”
But Facebook said it will block the live broadcast of his death, saying its rules prohibit users from portraying suicide.
“While we respect your decision to want to draw attention to this complex issue, following expert advice we have taken steps to prevent live broadcasting on Alain’s account,” a spokesperson told AFP news agency.
“Our rules do not allow us to show suicide attempts.”
Cocq had written to Macron asking that he be administered a sedative that would allow him to die in peace, but the president responded by explaining that this was not allowed by French law.
Neighboring countries, including Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, have adopted laws allowing medically assisted death in some cases.
However, France has refrained from taking that step, partly due to pressure from the Catholic Church.
“As I am not above the law, I cannot comply with your request,” Macron wrote in his reply, which Cocq posted on his Facebook page.
“His wish is to request active assistance to die, which is currently not allowed in our country,” the president added.
The Claeys-Leonetti end-of-life law, adopted in 2016, authorizes deep sedation, but is only eligible for patients whose prognosis is threatened in the short term.
Cocq has called for a change in French law to allow medically assisted death in cases like his.
He was drip fed and his digestive system hooked up to a colostomy bag.
Her condition has caused her brain aneurysms and she experiences seizures if she doesn’t take her medication, and claims to have constant pain.
Macron included a handwritten postscript in his letter, which read: “With all my personal support and deep respect.”
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