Ana Estrada

From 2019 to 2024, the personal blog of the psychologist Ana Estrada, typed with the one finger she could move, became a focal point of the debate on assisted dying in Peru. A chronicle of Estrada’s life with polymyositis and in palliative care, the blog supported her successful appeal for the right to die, creating a legal precedent in her country and sparking discussion far beyond.

José Saramago

‘As intermitências da morte’ by Portuguese writer José Saramago explores the economic, political, religious, and ethical questions that would be raised if, suddenly, people stopped dying. Distinguishing between ‘to kill’ and ‘to give death’, this allegorical novel was invoked in the debate on the legalization of assisted dying in Portugal and of orthothanasia in Brazil.

Ramón Sampedro

A collection of letters, poems, and essays, Ramón Sampedro’s ‘Cartas desde el infierno’ constitutes a philosophical treatise on the ethics of euthanasia. Written over decades – between the 1968 accident that left Sampedro tetraplegic and the 1996 first edition – the book became a landmark work on the right-to-die debate, influencing the 2021 legalization of assisted death in Spain.

Gustavo Rodríguez

Eufrasia Vela cares so well for the affluent elderly in Lima, that they start asking her to assist in their deaths – and the ensuing dilemmas propel Gustavo Rodríguez’s novel ‘Cien cuyes’. Approaching the problem of loneliness in aging societies with humour and without judgement, the novel has sparked debate on assisted dying at the nexus of class, caregiving, and community.

Carlos Framb

After assisting in his mother Luzmila Alzate’s death in 2007 and unsuccessfully attempting suicide, the poet Carlos Framb found himself accused of homicide. This memoir recounts Framb’s legal saga, his relationship with his mother, and defends the right-to-die in the context of Colombia, that had decriminalized euthanasia in 1997 but not yet created guidelines for assisted dying.

Gina Montaner

About to turn 79 and suffering from what seemed to be Parkinson’s, the Cuban-Spanish writer Carlos Alberto Montaner asked his daughter to help him seek an assisted death. In this memoir, Gina Montaner recounts how her father, as a political exile, fought for democratization in Cuba and, as a naturalized citizen, for the right to access legal euthanasia in Spain.

Antonio Cicero

After the Brazilian poet and philosopher Antonio Cicero received a medically assisted death in Switzerland in 2024, multiple news sources reproduced his goodbye letter, in which the writer explains the reasons for ending his life. Cicero’s letter struck a nerve with Brazilian society, revealing the need to discuss the ethics and legality of self-determination in death in Brazil.

Tomás González

Suffering unbearable pain after a traffic accident left him paraplegic, Jacobo has decided to die in Oregon, where a doctor is willing to assist him; in the meantime, his Colombian-immigrant parents anxiously await news in NYC. Told from the perspective of the painter David, Jacobo’s ageing father, González’s 2011 novel has sparked discussions about assisted dying in Colombia and beyond.

Sofía Almiroty

In Sofía Almiroty’s debut novel, Ariana takes her grandmother Rosa, whose skin is ravaged by a rare cancer, to say goodbye to the town where Rosa grew up; they hope to have enough morphine to keep the pain at bay. Set in Argentina, the novel was published in Spain, where assisted dying has been legal since 2021 – as opposed to Argentina, where it remains a crime.

Vitor Hugo Brandalise

In 2014, 74-year-old Nelson Golla complied with his wife Neusa’s request to die; Neusa was 72 and being fed through a nasogastric tube at a nursing home. Nelson hugged his wife and placed a homemade bomb between them, which killed Neusa and hurt him. The case is reconstructed by Vitor Hugo Brandalise in this book-length investigation, which fomented a debate about old age and euthanasia in Brazil.

María Benito

After a legal battle to ratify her right to refuse treatment, María Benito had her artificial vital support systems removed and died, becoming the second person in Peru to win a constitutional appeal for the right to die. Benito’s last words, communicated via a device that tracked her eye movements, were first shared on social media and then reported by multiple news sources.

Paola Roldán

Published two years before her constitutional victory for the right to die, Paola Roldán’s memoir narrates her journey of self-discovery and of living with ALS, a chronic disease that left her paralyzed and dependent on a respirator. Dedicated to her son and having a spiritual dimension, the 2022 book helped promote Roldán’s plea for self-determination in Ecuador’s religious-political landscape.