A Peruvian psychologist has become the first person in Peru to legally die by euthanasia after fighting in court for years.
Ana Estrada, 47, who suffered with incurable and chronic muscle degeneration from age 12 and was left bedridden for several years, died on Monday.
Estrada became the first person in Peru to obtain the right to die with medical assistance after becoming a sensation in the conservative country where euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal.
In 2022, the euthanasia activist was granted an exception by the nation’s Supreme Court, which upheld a ruling by a lower court that gave Estrada the right to decide when to end her life, and said that those who helped her would not be punished.
‘Ana’s struggle for her right to die with dignity has helped to educate thousands of Peruvians about this right and the importance of defending it,’ her lawyer, Josefina Miró Quesada, said in a statement.
‘Her struggle transcended our nation’s borders.’
Ana Estrada, 47, from Peru, has become the first person in the country to legally die by euthanasia after fighting the government and courts for around five years for the right to decide when to end her life
She died on Monday, according to her lawyer, who also said ‘her struggle transcended our nation’s borders’
Estrada spent most of her life bed-ridden after being diagnosed with polymyositis as a 12-year-old. It’s a rare disease that affects her muscle system with a degenerative deterioration
Estrada had an incurable and debilitating disease called polymyositis that weakens and deteriorates muscles in the body.
She began showing symptoms as a teenager and began using a wheelchair aged 20 after losing the strength to walk.
Before her illness completely took control of her life, Estrada obtained a psychology degree and became a therapist.
She earned enough money to buy her own apartment in an empowering move that allowed her to become independent from her parents.
But by 2017, Estrada’s condition had worsened and she could no longer get out of bed.
She started having to rely on ventilators to breathe, which hampered her ability to speak as her voice was reduced to a whisper.
And even though she struggled to type, Estrada used a transcription software to produce a blog called ‘Ana for a death with dignity’, where she bravely shared her struggles and her decision to seek euthanasia.
By 2022, Estrada had won her five-year-long historic battle with the Peruvian government and courts to allow her to undergo assisted death ‘when the time comes’.
Estrada, who was confined to a bed and breathed with a respirator most of the time, took to Twitter in 2022 to say that her ‘fight was always the defence for the right to choose’
She had participated in court sessions through video conferences from her bed
Estrada used a transcription software to produce a blog called ‘Ana for a death with dignity’, where she bravely shared her struggles and her decision to seek euthanasia
‘It is an individual case, but I hope it serves as a precedent,’ Estrada said after the ministries of justice and health decided to respect a judge’s ruling that she has the right to ‘a dignified death.’
‘I think it is an achievement not only of mine, not only of my cause, but also an achievement of law and justice in Peru,’ Estrada said with a muffled and broken voice.
She had participated in court sessions through video conferences from her bed.
‘I am free. My fight was always the defense for the right to choose,’ Estrada tweeted at the time.
‘Today I have achieved it thanks to the people who spread my voice.’
‘I have fought to get back my time and decisions about my life and my body.
‘Today I have been granted the right to choose when to die. Those who do not understand this, you will never understand it and will not want to understand,’ she wrote.
‘May my case serve so that we begin to respect our differences. To defend all human rights that need to be heard and taken care of. May we be a fairer and more egalitarian country.’
The court ruling demanded that state health insurer EsSalud provide ‘all conditions’ needed for Estrada’s euthanasia, which must occur within 10 business days from the date that she decides to end her life.
Before her death, Estrada viewed the government’s decision as one that will serve as a tool that will allow people to respect the decisions of others, even if they choose not to accept the next individual’s reasoning.
Euthanasia is banned in most countries, and it opposed by the Catholic church.
Only a handful of countries have legalised euthanasia, including Canada, Belgium, and Spain.
Some US states, including Maine and Oregon, allow physician-assisted suicide, where a doctor provides a terminally ill patient with the means to end their life.
Colombia is the only country in Latin America that has allowed assisted death under certain conditions.