The
story of Eluana Englaro has touched the world. What began months ago as a
heated national issue has turned into an international inquiry into the ethics
of euthanasia.
The controversial case
of the 39-year-old woman who has been in a persistent vegetative state for 17
years, has been the focus of fierce debate since Englaro’s father, Beppe, first
began his plight to end his daughter’s life years ago. Although she can breathe
on her own, she relies on an artificial feeding tube to survive.
After
years of legal proceedings, a landmark right-to-die ruling in late 2008 gave
Beppe Englaro the power to end his daughter’s life. The groundbreaking ruling
by Italy’s Court of Cassation authorized the suspension of the life-support system.
However,
the country’s Catholic politicians and Vatican leaders, who believe that
removing Eluana’s life-support system constitutes an act of euthanasia, have fiercely condemned the court’s ruling and
have since been lobbying for support to stop Beppe Englaro.
Over
the last two months, Beppe Englaro had been looking for a hospital that would
accept his daughter and remove her feeding tube. His efforts were futile until
a private clinic in Udine accepted her. On February 6, doctors began reducing
her artificial feeding. They say she is likely to die within two weeks.
In
response, a Vatican-led campaign quickly mounted and Italy’s conservative
government said it would swiftly pass an emergency decree to prevent the
doctors from removing Eluana’s feeding tube. At the same time, Italian
president Giorgio Napolitano said he would not approve an emergency decree on
the grounds that it was unconstitutional. The decree cannot be put into effect
without Napolitano’s final approval.
Italy’s president has repeatedly stressed that the
best way to deal with the case is for parliament to pass a specific law on
end-of-life issues. However, the emergency decree that was drawn up by Silvio
Berlusconi’s conservative government addresses only artificial feeding tube
cases. The Italian premier says he will push the draft bill through parliament
anyway, with or without Napolitano’s approval.
