STORY: For three decades, Ana Estrada lived with a rare and incurable disease that weakened her muscles.
She was bedridden and needed a ventilator to breathe.
The Peruvian psychologist died by euthanasia on Sunday, after a long legal battle that ended with a historic decision allowing her to end her life with medical assistance, her lawyer said.
Euthanasia is illegal in Peru.
Estrada went to court in 2016 to fight for access to assisted dying.
Six years later, in 2022, the country’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling that granted him an exemption to end his life.
Although the Supreme Court did not legalize medical assistance in dying, it exempted from any punishment the doctor who provided the medication intended to end Estrada’s life.
Estrada spoke to Reuters a few months before the historic decision:
“I never imagined that I was capable of doing this. Faced with such a complex and delicate issue here in Peru, where we have never talked about dignified death or euthanasia. So I feel proud, I I feel happy to be accompanied and supported by so many people.
Euthanasia is illegal in most countries, including Peru, a deeply Catholic country.
Under Peruvian law, assisting suicide and killing a terminally ill patient are punishable by prison time.
In Latin America, Colombia, Ecuador and Cuba have authorized this practice under certain conditions.
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