The Constitutional Court has marked a milestone in Ecuador. This Wednesday it ruled in favor of decriminalizing euthanasia, declaring constitutional the right of people who “due to intense suffering resulting from a serious and irreversible bodily injury or a serious and incurable illness” request the assisted death procedure. The judges' decision is immediately applicable, explains one of the lawyers handling the case, Farith Simon. “Although it does not accept all our arguments about a dignified death, the Court accepted the central one that people have the right to decide for their personal autonomy and to have a dignified life, not just a life in the sense of subsistence,” he adds.
The Court, with seven votes in favor and two against, decided to declare the conditional constitutionality of article 144 of the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code, which refers to simple homicide, allowing doctors who practice euthanasia not to be penalized. “The right to conscientious objection is recognized for doctors who do not want to do so, but if a doctor does not want to do so, he or she must immediately transfer to another doctor who is in a position to help the patient,” says Simon.
In August 2023, Paola Roldán Espinosa, a 42-year-old woman, knocked on the door of the Court to request legalization. By then she had been three years since she learned of the fatal diagnosis: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative disease that affects and destroys the nerve cells that control the muscles that execute voluntary movements. Seven months later, she was bedridden, unable to move. ALS is a progressive disease that worsens over time and in most cases death will occur due to respiratory failure. Thus she began her fight for the decriminalization of euthanasia, which brought together three lawyers who championed her cause.
The judges' ruling asks the Ombudsman to “prepare a bill that regulates euthanasia procedures, in accordance with the provisions of the ruling, within six months.” This document will be debated by the National Assembly to which imposed a maximum period of 12 months to approve it. In addition, it asks the Ministry of Health to issue a regulation that regulates the procedure for the application of voluntary active euthanasia “in light of technical criteria and in compliance with what is stated in the ruling, regulations that will be valid until the approval of the respective law”, which must be delivered in two months.
To a large extent, the Court accepted Paola's request allowing that under two parameters a dignified death can be accessed: that the person express their unequivocal, free and informed consent, and if they cannot do so, it is through their representative. And that the request for an active euthanasia procedure responds to a condition of intense suffering resulting from a serious and irreversible bodily injury or a serious and incurable disease. “The Court's decision is important because it has recognized the right of many patients and has expanded the margin of freedom for people to be able to decide under these conditions, since they will not be forced to suffer immensely and for long periods,” he adds. Simon.
With this decision, Ecuador joins other countries such as Colombia, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand and five Australian states that have decriminalized euthanasia.
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