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Ecuador: Court decriminalizes euthanasia in landmark ruling

February 8, 2024

The verdict comes after a case was brought by Paola Roldan, a terminally ill patient. She argued that people with serious and incurable diseases have a right to die with dignity.

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Constitutional Court, Ecuador
Seven of the nine judges of Ecuador's Constitutional Court voted in favor of the decisionImage: Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo/picture alliance

Ecuador's high court on Wednesday decriminalized euthanasia following a landmark case brought by a terminally ill patient.

In its ruling the court said it "considers that the issue raised relates to the rights to a life with dignity and the free development of personality. Therefore, after carrying out an examination, it concludes that life admits exceptions to its inviolability when it
seeks to protect other rights."

The penalty for homicide "cannot be applied to a doctor who performs an active euthanasia procedure in order to preserve the rights to a dignified life," the court added.

The ruling directed lawmakers and health authorities to establish guidelines for the practice of euthanasia.

Seven of the nine judges of Ecuador's Constitutional Court voted in favor of the decision.

The case for assisted dying in Ecuador

The lawsuit was filed last year by Paola Roldan, a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurological disease.

Roldan argued that people with serious and incurable diseases have the right to die with dignity. They should be able to voluntarily end their lives to stop "intense physical or emotional pain or suffering," she said. "I want to rest in peace."

"Today has been a very special moment for me," Roldan, who is bedridden, said after the verdict.

While the court allowed lawmakers 12 months to draft the regulatory frameworks for implementation, Roldan was granted the right to an expedited process for euthanasia, albeit under strict conditions.

Euthanasia in Latin America

This decision positions Ecuador as the second country in Latin America to decriminalize euthanasia, following Colombia in 1997.

Currently, Uruguay and Chile are debating the issue.

The practice is also legal in Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and several Australian states.

Several states in the US allow assisted suicide, where patients self-administer a lethal medication, as prescribed by a physician.

ss/jsi (AP, AFP, Reuters)