Lima Peru –
A Peruvian psychologist who suffered from an incurable disease that weakened her muscles and kept her confined to bed for several years, died by euthanasia, her lawyer reported this Monday, becoming the first person in the country to obtain the right to die with medical assistance.
Ana Estrada fought for years in Peruvian courts for the right to die with dignity and became a celebrity in the conservative country where euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal.
In 2022, Estrada was granted an exception by the nation’s Supreme Court, which upheld a lower court ruling that gave Estrada the right to decide when to end her life, and said those who helped her would not be punished. Estrada became the first person to obtain the right to die with medical assistance in Peru.
“Ana’s fight for her right to die with dignity has helped educate thousands of Peruvians about this right and the importance of defending it,” her lawyer, Josefina Miró Quesada, said in a statement. “Her fight transcended the borders of our nation.”
Estrada, 47, suffered from polymyositis, a muscle-wasting disease with no cure.
He began to present the first symptoms as a teenager and began using a wheelchair at the age of 20 because he had lost the strength to walk.
Despite these obstacles, Estrada earned a degree in psychology and became a therapist. He earned enough money to buy his own apartment and became independent from his parents.
However, in 2017, Estrada’s condition worsened and he could no longer get out of bed.
He had difficulty breathing and survived pneumonia. And although she didn’t know how to write, Estrada used transcription software to produce a blog called “Ana for a Dignified Death,” where she talked about her struggles and her decision to seek euthanasia.
“I’m not free anymore,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press in 2018. “I’m not the same person I was before.”
With the help of Peru’s Ombudsman, Estrada won a lawsuit that granted him the right to die by euthanasia. From his bed he participated in the court sessions through videoconferences.
Estrada told judges in 2022 that he valued life and did not want to die immediately, but wanted to have the freedom to decide when to end his life.
“I want to agree to euthanasia when I can no longer bear the suffering in life,” he said. “And when I decide to say goodbye to my loved ones in peace and tranquility.”
Only a handful of countries have legalized euthanasia, including Canada, Belgium and Spain. Some US states, including Maine and Oregon, allow physician-assisted suicide, in which a doctor provides a terminally ill patient with the means to end her life.
Euthanasia is illegal in most Latin American countries, except Colombia, which legalized it in 2015, and Ecuador, which decriminalized the practice in February.