Euthanasia as an expression of dignity in death
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Abstract
The objective of the study is to establish that euthanasia can be legally permitted as a manifestation of dignity in death, but only under strict parameters of conditional permissibility, taking the Peruvian case of Ana Estrada as a basis. The research adopts a qualitative approach, with a legal-doctrinal and comparative regulatory design, based on the analysis of indexed scientific sources. The analytical procedure was developed in three phases: conceptual systematization of bio-legal categories, doctrinal and comparative contrast of admissibility models, and argumentative legal interpretation aimed at constructing strict normative criteria. The results show convergence in scientific literature and comparative law toward models of regulated exception with cumulative safeguards: irreversible clinical condition, intolerable suffering, free and informed consent, verification of capacity, and independent medical oversight. In the Peruvian case, the precedent of Ana Estrada constitutes a specific criminal non-application of the criminal offense of mercy killing, with the requirement of a health protocol and institutional supervision, without general legalization. It is concluded that euthanasia is compatible with the constitutional rule of law as an exceptional regulated permission, provided that it operates under medical control, procedural guarantees, and state supervision.
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