Peru Supreme Court backs right to euthanasia in unprecedented ruling

Justice Agustín Ruidas Farfán became the fourth out of five Peruvian Supreme Court judges to back a complaint from the country’s ombudsman to allow 45-year-old Ana Estrada the right to assisted suicide yesterday, reaching the threshold needed for the ruling to become binding.

Since she was 12 years old, Ms. Estrada has suffered from polymyositis, a debilitating chronic inflammatory muscle disease which means she can only be kept alive through the use of a respirator.

Her case has become a civil rights landmark in Peru, although a ruling on the euthanasia protocol to be used in this case is still pending, penciled in for July 22.

The Supreme Court decision states that article 112 of the penal code of Peru, which hands penalties of up to three years of prison to those who assist suicide in terminal cases, should not apply to this case.

While there is some controversy over whether the decision sets a precedent for similar cases in the future, the Peruvian ombudsman has stated that it should.

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