With 20 votes in favor out of 31, the Senate of Uruguay approved the law on muerte digna, making the country the first in Latin America to legalize euthanasia through a legislative and non-judicial path. An achievement that comes after five years of debates, hearings and testimonies, and which consolidates Uruguay’s reputation as one of the most progressive democracies on the continent.
The law does not provide for assisted suicide, but regulates medical intervention in the end-of-life process. Only adults suffering from incurable diseases that cause unbearable physical or psychological suffering will be able to request it.
A path based on informed consent
The heart of the new law is informed consent. The patient must formulate the request in written form, in front of two witnesses, after a double medical evaluation. The document will be revocable at any time, to protect the person’s full autonomy.
No one will be able to decide for the patient: not the family, not the religion, not the State. Euthanasia will be carried out only after confirmation by two doctors or, in case of doubt, by a medical commission who certify the condition of irreversibility and the presence of unbearable suffering.
A law that restores dignity, but there is no shortage of opposition
The law also provides guaranteed access to palliative care for those who choose not to resort to euthanasia but wish to receive dignified support at the end of life. It is a step that combines freedom and responsibility and which aims to restore dignity even to those who suffer without hope of recovery.
However, there was no shortage of critical reactions. The Episcopal Conference of Uruguay expressed “deep pain” for a law which, according to him, “transforms life into a disposable goodHowever, polls show that over 60% of the population is in favor.
After the legalization of abortion and marijuana, Uruguay confirms its secular and reformist vocation. It is the moral legacy of figures like José “Pepe” Mujica, symbol of a country that continues to believe in freedom as a fundamental right even in the last, most difficult, passages of life.
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