As deputies prepare to examine at 4 p.m., in the National Assembly, a bill creating a right tohelp to diea sentence hits France Inter: “Don’t waste too much time in Parliament, because the sick don’t have much time“. It comes from a big name in sports journalism, suffering from Charcot’s disease and deprived of speech for two years, who addresses elected officials using a voice recreated by artificial intelligence.
This man is Charles Biétryformer sports boss of Canal+, suffering from Charcot disease since 2018. In the podcast Charles Biétry, his last matchposted online by France Inter on June 22, 2026, he made the law on the end of life his “last fight”. He supports the text carried by MP Olivier Falorni and recalls that “the majority of French people are in favor of assisted dying while developing palliative care“. For him, “the patient could choose his death, the doctor could choose to help him or not, that’s called freedom“.
Charles Biétry’s appeal on the end of life in the face of parliamentary time
The proposed law on the right to assisted dying returns for the third time to the National Assembly, one of the promises of Emmanuel Macron’s second five-year term. Charles Biétry says he is “not really angry” with the opponents, but “rather disappointed by the violence of the attacks against the bill“. Last November, he already pleaded for a referendum on the end of life, directly with the Head of State. His message of the day is mainly aimed at the slowness of the legislative process: “Don’t waste too much time in Parliament because the sick don’t have much time“.
For him, the heart of the text comes down to a possibility of choice, framed by the doctor’s decision. He insists on the connection with palliative care, which he does not call into question. By welcoming Olivier Falorni’s “formidable work”, he places himself in the camp of those who want a law that is both freer and more protective. His intervention reminds us that, behind the platform clashes, there are people who live every day with a very close deadline.
Charcot disease, family, podcast: why Charles Biétry’s words matter
Diagnosed in 2018, Charles Biétry says that upon learning such news, “you can have three reactions”. Let yourself go, be “seized by fear” – and he quotes the philosopher Alain, “the fear of death is worse than death” – or decide to “fight”, by working on your breathing, by slowing down muscular deficiency, by pushing back the predictions. He hopes that a medicine will eventually come along, “maybe too late for me, but not for many others if we help the researchers“.
Deprived of voice for two years, he nevertheless continues to speak to the country. “We write to each other, we take Charles Biétry’s responses in writing, we have them read to someone in the studio“, explains Nathalie Ianetta, Director of Sports at Radio France. These recordings, mixed with an old episode ofSensitive matterswere used by an artificial intelligence company to recreate his voice. “The voice is a prisoner of my body which prevents me from expressing a feeling, an idea, an emotion“, he said, before concluding: “Artificial intelligence comes to my rescue like today“. The podcast, recorded in one day in Carnac (Morbihan), also features Monique, his wife, “of strength, power and at the same time incredible gentleness“, describes Nathalie Ianetta.
What Charles Biétry’s story changes in the debate on assisted dying
In four episodes – one of which is entitled “It’s called freedom” – Charles Biétry’s story puts a face, a family, a daily life on an often theoretical debate. His situation illustrates what it means to wait for a law when you know your life is numbered, while the text is still discussed, amended, sent back to committee. His injunction to “not waste too much time” sums up this tension between institutional slowness and urgency experienced by patients who see time shrinking.