As Eluana Englar is being dehydrated to death, the Italian Parliament is debating a proposed law that would prohibit causing cognitively disabled people to die in this manner. From the story:
Italian senators raced Monday to discuss a bill designed to keep a woman in vegetative state from having her feeding tube disconnected, the latest twist in a right-to-die case that has consumed Italy. The bill aimed at keeping Eluana Englaro alive is expected to win quick approval. It is supported by Premier Silvio Berlusconi, whose conservative forces have solid majority in Parliament...Her father testified she had not wanted to be maintained in such a condition. Even so, I wonder if she specifically mentioned being dehydrated to death, and if she did, whether she knew what that really entails, as I posted about here. It seems to me that it is wrong to hold people to what may have been casual statements or oral assertions about their desires that were made without all of the details. After all, shouldn’t truly informed consent on such a vital matter be the minimum standard?
In line with the high court ruling, medical workers on Friday began gradually suspending food and water for Englaro. Citing privacy rules, they have not given updates on the procedure. But Italy’s center-right government, backed by the Vatican, has been pressing to keep her alive, racing against time to pass legislation prohibiting food and water from being suspended for patients who depend on them.
