Representatives in Uruguay’s lower house on Tuesday voted to approve the “Dignified Death” bill, which would allow terminally ill and mentally competent adults to die by euthanasia.
After 14 hours of debate, the bill was approved by 64 votes to 29.
It had been introduced by the governing left-wing Broad Front (Frente Amplio) coalition, and was approved by all of its representatives. Meanwhile, both the center-right National Party and the center-right Colorado party were split.
The only Independent Party representative, Gerardo Sotelo, voted in favour of the law.
The bill will now be examined and voted upon by the Senate’s Health Committee, which consists of nine legislators. If the committee approves the bill, it will be sent to the entire Senate for a vote.
If approved in the Senate, the bill will be presented to the Executive Branch for enactment.
The bill seeks to provide mentally fit adults, who are terminally ill or enduring “unbearable suffering,” the right to “undergo the dying process with dignity.” It has received the support of organizations such as Empathy Uruguay, and Assisted Death with Dignity in Uruguay (MADU).
A recent survey found that 62% of Uruguayans support the legalization of euthanasia. Luis Gallo, a physician and Frente Amplio politician, asked lower house representatives to remember this fact, and to recognize the “expectations and expressions” of the people’s will.
“I understand the different ideological, religious, philosophical, moral, and ethical perspectives that coexist in this chamber and that enrich it so much. I ask that each of you, in your innermost thoughts, analyze deeply, sensitively, and responsibly what response we will give to the citizens,” he stated.
“Everyone has the same right to choose their own death as they do to choose their own life,” Gallo added.
However, Rodrigo Goñi of the National Party described the day as “very painful”.
“To thousands of Uruguayans who are suffering unbearably today, to thousands of Uruguayans who today feel like a burden, who are tired of living […] who are in the most fragile situation, this Chamber, the Chamber of their representatives, tells them that it has a solution for them, tells them that it has a solution to this unbearable suffering: to cause their premature death,” he said before the vote.
Uruguay’s Catholic Church has also expressed opposition to the legalization of assisted dying. The Episcopal Conference of Uruguay has described its “sadness” at the lower house’s approval of the bill, stating that “causing the death of a patient is ethically unacceptable and contrary to the current Code of Medical Ethics,” and describing euthanasia as “homicide in a clinical context.”
The Catholic Church has instead advocated for palliative sedation and palliative care as “ethical alternatives to alleviate suffering.”
If the bill is passed, patients seeking euthanasia will have to consult with two physicians. In the case that the doctors disagree on whether euthanasia is an appropriate course of action, the case will be referred to a medical board.
Only Uruguayan nationals or foreigners with legal residency in the country would be able to access euthanasia, and private clinics would not be allowed to provide the service.
The only Latin American countries to have decriminalized euthanasia are Colombia and Ecuador.
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