Young Woman may be Dehydrated to Death, Italian Appeals Court Decides

Supreme Court had ruled it was impossible to say that father's opinion reflected woman's
By Hilary White
MILAN, Italy, July 9, 2008

(LifeSiteNews.com) - A young disabled woman in Milan may be euthanised by dehydration, an Italian appeals court has ruled. Eluana Englaro, 36, may have her "life support", that is, her feeding tube, removed as early as today. It is believed, however, that this will be delayed until the end of a 60 day waiting period in which the state has a chance to appeal the decision.

The court ruled that it had been shown both that Englaro's coma was irreversible and that she had expressed her desire not to live if she were in a "persistent vegetative state". The Court of Appeal said the decision was "inevitable given the extraordinary duration of a state of permanent vegetation," and having established her "vision of life, irreconcilable with the total and irreversible loss of her mental faculties".

The case of Eluana Englaro has become a cause celebre in Italy with circumstances closely reflecting those of Terri Schindler Schiavo who died by court-ordered dehydration in 2005. the rest image