The last words of María Benito

On May 3, 2024, María Teresa Benito Orihuela, known as María Benito, was sedated and had her vital support systems removed. A 66-year-old woman from Huancayo, Benito died while asleep and surrounded by members of her family – as was her wish. A press release shared by her lawyer explains that the procedure occurred in compliance with a court ruling that, in February 2024, ordered the public healthcare system to respect Benito’s wish: to put a stop to the medical treatments that artificially kept her alive. In 2014, Benito was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a chronic degenerative disease that impacts the nervous system, leading to muscle deterioration. As reported, up to the onset of ALS, Benito was the picture of health, avoiding processed foods, biking, dancing, swimming, playing volleyball, and competing in amateur 100 and 400m races held at her work. After losing her ability to speak in 2020, Benito employed a Tobii visual device to communicate via eye movements. In 2023, having her request to remove her support systems denied, Benito initiated her legal saga. Her last words – both a goodbye letter and a defence of her choice – were shared on social media and reported by multiple news sources. In her brief statement, Benito thanks her family, friends, and colleagues for being by her side. She affirms that she never felt alone, being aware that many were following her fight to die with dignity, and that, though she was finally granted such a death, it wasn’t easy to obtain. She continues: ‘Today, I want you to know that we all have the right to choose this; that no one knows what will happen in old age, but we now know we don’t have to suffer, nor make our family suffer. I love life, but not in these conditions’ (translated from the Spanish). She acknowledges that not everyone agrees with her and adds that she prays for their happiness, before concluding: ‘Today I take the lead. You know I always liked to be ahead. I’m leaving happy, because I fulfilled part of my dreams and projects’.

After Ana Estrada, who had an assisted death on April 21, 2024, María Benito was the second person in Peru to win a constitutional appeal for the right to die. Benito was represented by the lawyer Josefina Miró Quesada Gayoso, who also worked on Estrada’s case. As Miró Quesada Gayoso explains, though both women fought for the right to die, their cases were different: Estrada appealed to undergo an assisted death that would not be deemed a crime, in spite of the standing Penal Code that criminalizes such a procedure in Peru. As for Benito, her lawyer believes this case should never have needed litigation, as it already is within the rights of a patient to refuse medical treatment, without criminal liability for doctors. Because the public healthcare provider refused to comply with Benito’s request, and because her sight (her only means of active communication) was deteriorating, Miró Quesada Gayoso filed a habeas corpus on behalf of Benito – underscoring the urgency of this case and expanding the traditional understanding of habeas to cover the liberties of a person unable to move due to a physical disability. The Superior Court took the case, but reinterpreted it as an appeal on the grounds of unconstitutionality, denying the expansive definition of habeas while still ruling in favour of Benito – thus ordering public healthcare to comply with her wishes, deemed congruent with constitutional rights. It is the validation of those rights that Benito celebrated in her final words, which were circulated by media sources and celebrated by interest groups such as Derecho a Morir Dignamente (DMD). When the Brazilian writer Antonio Cicero left a goodbye letter before receiving an assisted death in 2024, some questioned how appropriate it was to share what could be considered a suicide note, given the World Health Organization’s directive to not divulge such letters. Yet, Miró Quesada Gayoso disputes the application of the terms ‘assisted suicide’, ‘orthothanasia’, or ‘passive euthanasia’ to Benito’s case, which could be considered instead – to use Benito’s own words following her constitutional victory – as doing what ‘we all have the right to choose’.