[Right_to_die] Italian right to let die case similar to Terri Schiavo in Florida

[World right-to-die news (nonprofit)]

Agence France Presse reported 7 Feb 09:

Berlusconi under fire over Italian right-to-die case
by Gina Doggett

ROME (AFP) – Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi came under fire 
Sunday for allegedly politicising the case of a comatose accident victim 
as her life support began to be withdrawn.

The father of Eluana Englaro, who has been in a vegetative state for 17 
years, blasted the centre-right leader for seeking to block the mercy 
killing.

"It was a coup de theatre. All I can say is that sometimes reality goes 
way beyond the wildest imagination," Beppino Englaro told Spain's El 
Pais newspaper.

"The (Roman Catholic) Church has nothing to do with this issue," Englaro 
said, adding that he felt the Church should not "impose its values" on him.

Euthanasia is illegal in predominantly Roman Catholic Italy, but 
patients have the right to refuse care.

Eluana Englaro, however, has become a symbol for the Church in its 
campaign against mercy killings.

Leading Italian daily Corriere della Sera said in an editorial: "The 
Eluana affair looks like an opportunity for Berlusconi to rearrange in 
his favour the powers of the government and presidency."

The conservative leader is trying to "ride the wave" of controversy over 
the case, the editorial said, suggesting that the "media campaign of the 
Catholic Church has changed perceptions over (Englaro's) impending death."

The case has put Berlusconi in open conflict with President Giorgio 
Napolitano, who Friday refused to sign an emergency cabinet decree the 
premier sent to the Senate that would prevent doctors from withholding 
food from her.

Englaro's father won a court battle on September 13 for her right to 
die, but struggled to find a hospital willing to oversee the process.

Englaro was transferred to the Udine hospital in northern Italy on Tuesday.

She has not been fed since Friday but on Sunday was in a "stable 
condition," according to the ANSA news agency, adding that she had been 
given a sedative to calm a cough.

The Italian Senate was to meet Monday to review the decree rejected by 
Napolitano.

Udine Archbishop Pietro Brollo said during his Sunday homily: "Let us 
pray for... the suspension of this tragic execution and the conversion 
of hearts," ANSA said.

Catholic associations have mounted a vigil outside the hospital where 
Englaro was admitted last Tuesday, ANSA reported.

Berlusconi's cabinet met twice on Friday to approve the blocking decree 
and the prime minister vowed that it would be passed within three days.

"I believe I represent the sentiment of the majority of Italians," 
Berlusconi said.

An opinion poll by Corriere found that 47 percent of Italians wanted 
Englaro to be kept alive while an equal number wanted her to be allowed 
to die, with another six percent undecided.

In another survey by all-news channel Sky TG-24, 62 percent of 
respondents said they were against the legally imposed artificial 
feeding of comatose patients.

The case is reminiscent of that of American Terry Schiavo who was in a 
vegetative state for 15 years before she died in the US state of Florida 
in March 2005.

Her death followed a long court battle during which then-president 
George W. Bush flew to Washington from a vacation at his Texan ranch to 
try to overturn a court ruling under which she would be allowed to die.