Rita Lee thought about euthanasia: ‘I wanted a dignified passage’

Rita Lee thought about euthanasia: ‘I wanted a dignified passage’


The procedure is not legalized in Brazil; the family changed her mind




A singer Rita Lee (1947-2023) considered euthanasia while battling against lung cancer. In the book Another biography, she herself explains that she wanted to have a decent ride and that she felt ready for it. However, the procedure is not legalized in Brazil.

”I told him (the doctor) that my life had been wonderful and that I would have ‘midnight tea’ to get better. That they let me make a dignified, painless, quick and conscious transition. I wanted to be attentive so that I could start my journey again in another dimension. I am fully in favor of euthanasia. Dying with dignity is necessary,” he wrote. Rita Leein his second autobriography.

In another passage, the singer points out that fighting a cancer brought back bad memories. the mother of Rita Lee he too suffered from the disease.

“I counted [ao chefe da área de oncologia do hospital] of the trauma I was left with from watching my mother suffer after having these two procedures done when she had cancer. (…) The love of the Carvalho / Lee boys made me choose to accept the treatment, because, if it were up to me, I would say goodbye to the cruel world ”, she added.

The practice is illegal in Brazil

much the assisted suicide as to euthanasia voluntary are prohibited in the Brazil, with the penalty of imprisonment from 6 to 20 years. Anyone who helps a patient carry out any procedure in this regard can also be held liable for various crimes against life.

“In Brazil, euthanasia is mistakenly equated to voluntary homicide or assisting in suicide, a criminalized conduct. It should not be seen this way, but as acceptance of the suffering of those who have no other solution”, says Henderson Fürst, president of the Special Bioethics Commission at OAB-SP and a health advocate.

Although both practices are not allowed in the file Brazil, legislation provides that people can have dignity in life, as well as in death. Palliative care activist Uiara Ribeiro argues that we talk more about death so that it ceases to be taboo, but reflects: ‘We cannot shorten the patient’s life, but whatever we can do to make that end more comfortable and decent, let’s do it.”

An example is the case of a patient who is in mechanical support. If remaining in this condition does nothing but prolong the pain, with no prospect of improvement, applying pain medication and shutting down machinery is seen as helping a worthy end. The decision, Uiara reinforces, depends on the consent of the patient’s family.

debate in the medical community

For the doctor Uiara Ribeiro, both the assisted suicide as to voluntary euthanasia have room for debate in Brazil. However, before thinking about death, it is necessary to think about equity of access to health. This is because social difference prevents people from receiving equivalent quality medical care and exhausts efforts to relieve each other’s pain.

“To be in favor is to respect the individual will of the person. However, it is also to create precedents for: ‘Has this patient really exhausted the possibilities to relieve suffering?'” he reflects.

Lawyer Henderson Fürst reiterates: “The current Brazilian framework condemns patients to unsolvable unwanted suffering.”

Source: Terra

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