Eluana Englaro, (November 25, 1970 in Lecco - February 9, 2009 in Udine), was an Italian woman who entered persistent vegetative state on January 18, 1992, following a car accident, and subsequently became the focus of a court battle between supporters and opponents of euthanasia. After Englaro had been maintained on artifical life support for seventeen years, her father requested to have her feeding tube removed and to allow her to die naturally, stating that she "has clearly expressed the wish to die in case of an accident that left her in a coma or a vegetative state." The authorities initially refused his request, but this decision was, much later, reversed.

The case was debated in court and the father's request was denied both in December 1999 by the Milan Court of Appeal and in April 2005 by the Court of Cassation. A request for a new trial was granted by the Court of Cassation on October 16, 2007.^[1][2] The Vatican harshly criticized the court's decision.^[3][4][5]

Milan Court of Appeal declared on July 9, 2008 that father and tutor Beppino Englaro was allowed to suspend feeding and hydration.^[6][7].

Nuns hosting Eluana since 1994 in Lecco were willing to go on taking care of her, so her father decided to move her to another hospital to obtain the interruption of feeding and hydration. Public opinion split on the Court of appeal's decision, some demonstrated in favour, including Radicali Italiani ^[8].

In July 2008, the Italian Parliament posed a jurisdiction conflict in front of the Final Court of Appeal, stating that the decision was actually changing existing laws.^[9] This request was rejected by the Court.

Beppino Englaro in one of his rare public appearances, stated that, although he was then legally entitled to suspend feeding for his daughter, he was not willing to proceed until all appeals were concluded.

On November 13, 2008 - Italy's top court awarded Englaro's father the right to stop his daughter from being fed.^[10] The court's decision met with immediate criticism from the Roman Catholic Church. Ennio Cardinal Antonelli, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, stated: "Eluana is in a 'vegetative state,' but she is not a vegetable. She is a person who is sleeping. The person, also when she is sleeping or disabled, retains all of her dignity. The person is valuable in herself, not for what she produces or consumes, or for the pleasure or satisfaction she gives to others."^[11]

In February 2009, she was moved to a private hospital in Udine, Italy, where a medical team assisted her during her final days. ^[12] On February 6, 2009, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi issued a decree that would have forced the continuation of the treatment of Eluana ^[13], and thrust Italy into a constitutional crisis when the President of the Republic refused to sign the decree.^[14] Stating that, "This is murder. I would be failing to rescue her. I'm not a Pontius Pilate", Berlusconi went on to defend his decision by claiming that she was "in the condition to have babies". These remarks have been described as "shocking" by the Italian media.^[15]

She died at 19:35 (GMT+1) on 9 February 2009^[16], after being in a vegetative state for 17 years.^[17]

The reaction to Englaro's death was mixed. Rome's conservative mayor, Gianni Alemanno, announced the Colosseum would be lit all night on February 10 to memorialize "a life that could have and should have been saved."^[18] Opponents of the withdrawal of life support demanded an autopsy. "This sudden death, when just this morning the experts said her conditions were stable, is perplexing," said Gianluigi Gigli, a neurologist who had supported continuing Englaro's care.^[19].

In the United States, conservative bioethicist Wesley J. Smith criticized the events leading to Engalro's death as falsely suggesting that the withdrawal of nutrition and hydration is benign.^[20]. In contrast, liberal bioethicist Jacob Appel said that "mercy delayed is mercy denied" and expressed his regret that Englaro's family had to wait seventeen years to effectuate her wishes. ^[21]

In Great Britain, Alison Davis, a spokesperson for the pro-life group "No Less Human" had championed the cause of keeping Englaro on life support, even in a presistant vegetable state. Davis recently wrote, "The tragedy behind the whole case, however, is that Eluana's life continues to hang in the balance, and that her father continues to want her killed by dehydration to death." She urged more people in the medical community to speak out. ^[22]

• Euthanasia
• Right to die
• Bioethics