Colombia, where euthanasia has already been legal since 1997, becomes the first country in Latin America to authorize assisted suicide for patients with a serious or incurable disease.
Le Monde
This is a first in Latin America. The Constitutional Court of Colombia authorized suicide assisted by medication for the patients, under the supervision of a doctor, according to a judgment transmitted to AFP, Thursday, May 12. “The doctor who helps a person in the grip of intense suffering or a serious illness and who freely decides to have his own life acts in the constitutional framework,” judged the court.
By a vote of six judges against three, the court thus repealed an article of the penal code punishing 12 to 36 months any person providing suicide assistance and “preventing a doctor from providing the necessary help for a person who , in the exercise of his personal autonomy, chooses to (…) die in dignity “.
Colombia, where euthanasia has already been legal since 1997, thus becomes the first country in Latin America to authorize assisted suicide for patients suffering from a serious or incurable disease: the patient will now be able to Administering a lethal product, under the supervision of a doctor who no longer risks any trouble.
According to the Colombian foundation for the right to death in dignity (DMD), the difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide “resides essentially in the person who administers the deadly medication”. “In the case of euthanasia, it is the health personnel who administer the drug that causes death, and in the case of assisted suicide, it is the patient who himself administers the medication that someone One of others gave him, “explains the international NGO.
strict frame
“The doctor is the one who has the best technical, scientific and ethical tools to guarantee the safeguard of human dignity in this procedure,” said the Court. “Advances in science must be used in an altruistic and united manner towards those who are in an extreme state of health and who wish a worthy death,” she concluded.
Colombian legislation continues, however, to punish up to nine years in prison “anyone encourages or helps” to end the life of a “intense suffering” due to body damage or a disease.
With today’s decision, “assistance to suicide, when carried out by a doctor and strict conditions are met, ceases to be a crime”, welcomed a radio station Local lawyer Lucas Correa, of the Laboratory of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Desclab), at the origin of a trial which led to this decision.
Euthanasia is strictly framed in Colombia, and less than 200 people have recourse since legalization in 1997. In July 2021, the Constitutional Court had extended it to patients who are not in terminal phase, but victims “Intense physical or psychological suffering resulting from bodily harm or a serious and incurable disease”.