A Peruvian psychologist who suffered from an incurable muscle-weakening disease that left him bedridden for years has died by euthanasia, becoming the country’s first person to win the right to die with medical assistance, his lawyer announced Monday.
Ana Estrada fought for years in Peru’s courts for her right to a dignified death, making her a celebrity in the conservative country where euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal.
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In 2022, Estrada was granted an exception by the country’s highest court, which upheld a lower court’s ruling that gave Estrada the right to decide when to end her life, and those who helped her. He said he would not be punished. Estrada became the first person in Peru to win the right to die with medical assistance.
“Ana’s fight for the right to a dignified death has helped teach thousands of Peruvians about this right and the importance of protecting it,” Josefina Milo Quesada, Ana’s lawyer, said in a statement. ” he said. “Her fight transcended borders.”
Ana Estrada, a Peruvian psychologist who is nearly paralyzed due to a terminal illness, speaks during an interview at her home in Lima, Peru, on December 18, 2019. Estrada passed away after being granted euthanasia by Peru’s Supreme Court in 2022. said her lawyer on Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
Estrada, 47, suffered from polymyositis, which causes muscle wasting and has no treatment.
She started showing the first symptoms as a teenager and started using a wheelchair at age 20 because she lost the strength to walk.
Despite these obstacles, Estrada earned a degree in psychology and became a therapist. She earned enough money to buy her own apartment and became independent from her parents.
But by 2017, Estrada’s condition had worsened and she was unable to get out of bed.
She had trouble breathing, but survived the pneumonia. And despite her inability to type, Estrada used transcription software to create a blog called “Ana for Death with Dignity,” where she shares her struggles and her quest for euthanasia. He talked about the decision.
In 2018, she said in an interview with The Associated Press, “I’m not free anymore. I’m not the same person I was before.”
With the help of Peru’s human rights ombudsman, Estrada won a lawsuit that granted him the right to die by euthanasia. She participated in court via video conference from her bed.
Estrada told a judge in 2022 that he values life and doesn’t want to die right away, but he wants the freedom to decide when to end his life.
“If I can no longer bear the suffering of life, I would like to accept euthanasia,” she said. “And when she decided to bid a peaceful and peaceful farewell to her loved ones.”
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Only a few countries, including Canada, Belgium and Spain, have legalized euthanasia. Some U.S. states, such as Maine and Oregon, allow physician-assisted suicide, where a doctor provides a terminally ill patient with the means to end his or her life.
Euthanasia is illegal in most Latin American countries, except Colombia, which legalized it in 2015, and Ecuador, which decriminalized it in February.
