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Italian Woman in Right-To-Die Case Worsens : 21st Oct 08
A woman in Italy whose father wants her starved to death has suffered a haemorrhage. Ms Eluana Englaro, 36, has been in a coma for 16 years and Mr Beppino Englaro says she previously expressed a wish not to live like that. He wants her feeding tube removed.
Eluana Englaro has been in a vegetative state for 16 years and her father has led a protracted court battle to disconnect her feeding tube, insisting it was her wish.
This summer a Milan court granted his request, setting off a political storm. Italy does not allow euthanasia, but patients have a right to refuse treatment. Catholic and anti-euthanasia groups protested the ruling by leaving bottles of water in front of Milan's Duomo cathedral.
Prosecutors appealed the decision and the father pledged not to disconnect the tube before Italy's high court gave its decision.
The case has drawn comparisons with that of Terry Schiavo, the American woman who was at the centre of a right-to-die debate until her death in 2005. Schiavo's husband, who wanted her feeding tube removed against her parents' wishes, prevailed in a polarizing battle in the United States that reached Congress, President Bush and the Supreme Court. Seattle Pi.
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