Eluana Englaro, the comatose accident victim at the centre of a right-to-die drama gripping Italy, died yesterday as lawmakers debated a bill to force doctors to restore her life support
Eluana Englaro, the comatose accident victim at the centre of a right-to-die drama gripping Italy, died yesterday as lawmakers debated a bill to force doctors to restore her life support.
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Health Minister Maurizio Sacconi made the announcement to the Senate moments after the chamber began its debate on controversial emergency legislation aimed at keeping Englaro alive.
Doctors in Udine stopped feeding the 38-year-old woman, who had been in a vegetative state for 17 years,u00a0on Friday amid a flurry of efforts to keep her alive, with conservative PM Silvio Berlusconi accused of politicising the affair. Englaro's neurologist, Carlo Alberto Defanti, had predicted that she could remain alive another eight to 10 days, until February 17 to 19.
The Vatican reacted swiftly to the news of Englaro's death, imploring God to "forgive" those responsible.
Englaro's father Beppino, who had battled for years for her right to die, asked to be allowed time on his own before speaking to reporters.
After observing a minute's silence, the senators nevertheless proceeded with their examination of the emergency decree issued by Berlusconi's cabinet on Friday, which, if passed, would have prevented doctors from withholding her food.
Englaro's family won a lengthy and arduous legal battle in November to allow her to die after she spent years in a coma following a traffic accident. In November, courts pronounced themselves satisfied that Englaro's coma was irreversible, and that she had clearly expressed her wish not be kept alive artificially when a close friend fell into a coma after a separate accident.
While euthanasia is illegal in Italy, patients have the right to refuse care. Englaro, however, has become a symbol for the Catholic Church in its campaign against mercy killings.
Englaro's case was reminiscent of that of American Terry Schiavo, who was in a vegetative state for 15 years before she died in the US state of Florida in 2005.
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