Ecuador's top court decriminalizes euthanasia | Inquirer News

Ecuador’s top court decriminalizes euthanasia

/ 08:39 AM February 08, 2024

Euthanasia

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Quito, Ecuador — Ecuador’s constitutional court on Wednesday decriminalized euthanasia after a lawsuit brought by a patient suffering a slow and painful death from a fatal motor neuron disease.

The penalty for homicide “cannot be applied to a doctor who performs an active euthanasia procedure to preserve the rights to a dignified life,” the court ruling said.

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Seven of the nine top judges voted in favor of the decision.

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READ: Out of vetoes, Portugal president enacts law allowing euthanasia

The lawsuit was brought in August by Paola Roldan, suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — a progressive neurological disease.

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Her complaint was regarding an article of the Ecuadorian penal code that sentences those guilty of homicide to between 10 and 13 years in prison.

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“I want to rest in peace. What I experience is painful, lonely and cruel,” Roldan told a court hearing in November.

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“This is not a fight to die. I know I’m dying. It’s a fight on how to do it.”

The court said the health ministry must “develop regulations for active euthanasia” within two months.

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It also said that the move would have to be approved by the National Assembly within a year.

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TAGS: Ecuador, euthanasia, world news

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