Woman at center of right-to-die case in Italy dies

From the International Herald Tribune:

ROME -- The woman at the center of a right-to-die battle roiling Italy died Feb. 9 in a private clinic, ending a case that divided the nation and ignited fierce clashes among Italian leaders and the Vatican.

Italy's health minister, Maurizio Sacconi, announced the death of the woman, Eluana Englaro, 38, (pictured) to senators holding an emergency session to debate a bill aimed at keeping her on a feeding tube, The Associated Press reported. She was moved last week to a private clinic in Udine, in northeast Italy that agreed to remove the feeding tube after other public clinics refused.

Englaro has been in a coma since a car accident in 1992. Her father fought repeatedly in court for the right to remove the tube, saying it was his daughter's wish not to be kept alive artificially. The Catholic Church was vehemently opposed to removing Englaro's feeding tube, saying it was tantamount to euthanasia, which is illegal in Italy.

The intense polemics and deep divisions over the case drew comparisons to the case of Terri Schiavo in the United States. Schiavo was allowed to die in 2005 after a long legal battle by her husband to get her feeding
tube removed.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's cabinet introduced an emergency measure on Friday, when Englaro's feeding tube was to be withdrawn, forbidding the removal. The bill circumvented a high court decision, and President Giorgio Napolitano called the decree unconstitutional and said he would not sign it in order to make it legally binding.

Late Friday evening, the emergency measure was drafted into a bill, and the Senate was considering it Monday when Englaro's death was announced.