Psychologist becomes first person in Peru to die by euthanasia after legal battle

NEW DELHI: Peruvian psychologist, Ana Estrada, who battled an incurable disease that gradually debilitated her muscles and made her bedridden for years, passed away by euthanasia, according to her attorney on Monday. This event marked the first instance of euthanasia in Peru, where such practices are prohibited by law.
Estrada had long fought through legal channels in Peru for the right to choose her own end, gaining attention in the conservative nation where both euthanasia and assisted suicide remain illegal.
In a landmark decision in 2022, Peru's Supreme Court made an exception for Estrada, affirming a lower court's ruling that granted her the authority to determine the timing of her death, with assurances that those who assisted her would not face legal repercussions.
Throughout her legal battle, Estrada's plight gained widespread attention, shedding light on the debate surrounding the right to die with dignity. Suffering from polymyositis, an irreversible muscular condition that afflicted her since adolescence, Estrada gradually lost her ability to walk, eventually becoming confined to a wheelchair by her twenties.
Despite her physical limitations, Estrada pursued a career in psychology, achieving financial independence and establishing herself as a therapist. However, as her condition deteriorated further in 2017, she found herself increasingly confined to her bed, grappling with respiratory issues and surviving bouts of pneumonia.
Communicating through transcription software due to her inability to type, Estrada maintained a blog titled "Ana for a death with dignity," documenting her struggles and advocating for euthanasia as a means to end her suffering. She emphasized her desire for autonomy over her own life, expressing the wish to bid farewell to her loved ones peacefully when the time came.
Estrada's legal victory paved the way for a broader conversation about end-of-life rights in Peru and beyond.
While euthanasia remains illegal in most Latin American countries, Colombia legalized the practice in 2015, and Ecuador decriminalized it in February.
(With agency inputs)