The health of the activist Ana Estradewho managed to get justice to order the Ministry of Health and Social Security Es Salud to respect his decision to “end his life by euthanasia”, is cracked and supports, at the same time, a “situation of stress” in front of the public interest your case has generated.

“She is very affected by the fact that there are people waiting for her death. It creates a stressful situation, sometimes very hurtful comments come to her and he feels a lot of pressure. The less we inquire (if you wait for the protocol is ready to make your decision), the better,” he said this week. GlobeLiveMedia the lawyer Josefina Miro Quesadawho has seen the Ombudsman case.

A psychologist and activist, Estrada is 45 and has suffered from polymyositis since she was 12, a disease that weakens her muscles and keeps her connected to life support most of the day. His firm decision to obtain a a dignified deathwhen she decides for herself, has made her the first symbol of euthanasia in Peru.

During his legal battle, he repeated that he did not want to convince anyone, he was simply asking for respect for the freedoms and rights of individuals and that he wanted to be able to choose when to die with dignity.

Ana Estrada, Peruvian asks for euthanasia in Peru
Ana Estrada, Peruvian asks for euthanasia in Peru

“She will decide when she wants to say goodbye. It’s truly revolutionary to have control over death. I think sometimes people are reluctant to speak up because we think of death in violent terms. Society, sick with violence, is still bored talking about a gentle death, without suffering, where the maximum expression of freedom is exercised. This clashes with the hegemonic vision in which we have framed it,” added the lawyer.

Elsewhere in the conversation, he said he met Estrada last Sunday, despite the fact that at one point he did not want to have visitors. “These were very hard days which were accentuated by the judge’s decision in January, added to the situation of the deaths due to the demonstrations, to the question of the changes that EsSalud was going to have with the providers of mechanical ventilation and finally to the covid, which left her speechless,” he says.

The award, issued last Saturday, specifies that Social Security will have to form two commissions, the first to prepare a plan that specifies the care and technical aspects of the decision taken and a protocol for the respect of their right to a dignified death, and the second practices euthanasia itself.

In addition, it orders Es Salud “to provide all the administrative, benefit and health conditions for the exercise of the right to death in conditions worthy” of Estrada, “which must be carried out within ten working days from from the moment or the date on which she expresses her wish to end her life”. This process would take approximately two months, “in the best of scenarios”, according to miro quesada.

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In this way, the court resolved favorably the amparo action filed by the Ombudsman’s office, which requested “with speed and urgency” the execution of the sentence, since almost six months had already passed.

Since Ana Estrada “received such media coverage, she is also exposed to many negative comments which, of course, affect her. We still do not realize the dimension that a case of this nature means and what it means that she defended him, that she paved the way for many other people, ”noted the lawyer.

He then hoped that “the following news is not bad in the sense of blocking or delaying these processes, or that there are conscientious objections from doctors”.

“With that, all that’s left to say is that if Ana wants to go on living, cool; if he can’t take it anymore, leave the power in his hands. In the end, it is not a question of waiting, but of guaranteeing that this decision is indeed in her hands, that she has the effective power to say when yes, when not”, he decided.

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