2024-01-20 13:26:00
Illustrative file photo of Ana Estrada, at her home in Lima Feb 7, 2020. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda
The activist Ana Estrada, who has been fighting for years for a dignified death in the face of the degenerative and incurable disease she suffers from, was notified this Thursday with the favorable decision of Social Security (EsSalud) to resolve the two observations she made regarding her isolated euthanasia protocol. .
Through a memorandum issued by the Central Legal Advisory Management of the Rebagliati Hospital, EsSalud reported that the commission responsible for the document complied with the requirements that it presented last October to the Seventh Constitutional Court, in charge of executing the ruling, on the draft of the protocol that It came into his hands the previous month.
The first observation corresponded to the requirements to access the procedure: specifically, the psychological report and informed consent. Regarding the psychological report, EsSalud decided that it was not necessary to carry out another evaluation, and that it will be enough to use the report already included at the time in the judicial file of the case.
Regarding informed consent, the activist may previously authorize a person she trusts to sign the document, if she is unable to do so, at the time of requesting euthanasia.
Ana Estrada, Peruvian seeking euthanasia in Peru. (EFE)
The second observation was that they be allowed to choose a trusted doctor for the euthanasia procedure, as happens in other countries where it is legal (the Netherlands or Spain). Josefina Miró Quesada, defense of the psychologist, pointed out that this last element was “very important” as it is a transcendental medical act.
“The trust between the responsible doctor and the patient gives security and peace of mind to the latter that his or her wishes will be respected at all times. In addition, it allows us to overcome barriers of conscientious objection, since it will be a non-objecting doctor who fully supports and understands Ana’s decision. The information regarding the doctor’s identity will be delivered to EsSalud in a confidential manner,” reads a statement sent to Infobae Peru.
The defense has welcomed the decision because the “points observed were of vital importance to fully guarantee” Estrada’s right, “which consists of having the freedom to decide the conditions under which he wishes to end his life, when continuing to prolong it is contrary.” to the very idea of dignity due to the intolerable sufferings that one experiences.”
With this historic step in her case, the document is fully valid and the psychologist now has the absolute freedom to decide when she wishes to access her right to a dignified death. “This decision is strictly personal. The ruling specifies that euthanasia must be performed within a maximum of ten business days from when she expresses her willingness to access the procedure,” said Miró Quesada, who has exercised the defense together with Percy Castillo.
Ana Estrada’s case reached the judicial jurisdiction in January 2020.
“Ana is going to live the epilogue of life without suffering, accompanied by her loved ones, saying goodbye in the way she wants, in the privacy of her home and still doing so with freedom in her hands. It is a very important recognition for her and all the people who experience similar situations,” the lawyer added in a subsequent dialogue.
Euthanasia is not allowed in Peru—unlike Colombia, Spain or Switzerland—and anyone who helps another person who requests it to die is punished with up to three years in prison. However, in the case of Estrada, the Superior Court established an exception in 2021 so that article 112 of the Penal Code, which prohibits assisted death, is “not applied.” After this historic decision, neither the Peruvian Government nor EsSalud appealed the sentence.
With his case, Peru became the second country in Latin America to judicially recognize the right to die with dignity, like Colombia in 1997. Estrada opened a blog in 2019 to express himself, but not with the aim of achieving anything or becoming a the symbol it has become.
“My journey through activism has been much more positive than negative,” he said, “when I started I believed that everything would be indifference or attacks and I said, well, nothing happens, but no, in the end it was the path that paradoxically made me led to valuing life much more and that is something that is difficult for people who are once morest to understand.”
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