The Senate Chamber finally approved the “death with dignity” bill, an initiative that had been discussed for eight years in the country; The project, which had the support of the officialdom and of Colorado legislators and of the National Party (PN) 20 out of 31 adhesions were obtained.
The project proposes that people with terminal, incurable and irreversible diseases can opt for an assisted death, as long as their express and repeated consent is provided. The initiative returned to the fray at the beginning of this year after the impetus of the Broad Front (FA) and the Colorado Party (PC).
Thus, the Senate It achieved its approval with 20 votes in total with the support of the ruling party and the nationalist senator, Graciela Bianchi, and the red ones Ope Pasquet —who occupied Robert Silva’s seat and managed to vote for the project that he himself promoted—and Heber Duke, substitute for Andrés Ojeda.
The debate in favor of euthanasia in Parliament
From the FA, the senator Daniel Borbonet He asked his peers “to trust those of us who lived that experience” and maintained that the project “does not force anyone” to euthanasia, but rather “offers an alternative that does not exist today.”
“With the law, the desire for death will not increase. With the law, it will alleviate the anguish of all those who live similar experiences and will make that part of their life more dignified, more free by being human and more democratic to the Uruguayan state”said Borbonet.
For his part, the former Colorado representative, Ope Pasquet, whom Robert Silva He gave him his place to present his defense of the project, describing the law as “beneficial, liberal and humanist.” “Does an adult and sane person have the right to die when they decide, or does they have the duty to live until natural death occurs? Do we have the right to dispose of our lives until the moment of our death? Or can we not do so and are we obliged, condemned, to continue living at any time and circumstance?” he questioned.
“He who believes in the moral legitimacy of euthanasia and finds himself in the sad situation of needing it, may request it. Whoever considers it incompatible with his beliefs and convictions will not ask for it and no one will apply it against his will. It is freedom to choose: that is what we demand! Let everyone follow the dictates of their conscience! He who wants euthanasia, let him ask for it, and he who does not want it, let him reject it,” he insisted.
Voices against
Subsequently, the PC legislator, Pedro Bordaberryconsidered that the initiative will be approved “today in a hurry” and questioned that it is “a law without changes, when we all know that it has very big writing problems”.
For Bordaberry, the rule is written “from the point of view exclusively of doctors,” considering that it remains to consult lawyers to avoid “legal errors” and regretted that the intention to “fix the regulation” These questions assume that “there is a bicameral system that goes over the top.”
At the same time, the senator National Party (P.N.), Martin Lemahighlighted “the calm” of the leaders beyond the debate of positions and considered that this Wednesday’s vote occurs at a time “inopportune“, pointing out that days ago the palliative care law was regulated. “It is no coincidence, if it was done it is because it has everything to do with this initiative,” he accused and considered that “the natural thing would be to wait for the deployment” of that norm.
“If we want to exhaust all avenues in care or if we put the axis in the shortcut. In my opinion, this change in priorities is not the public policy that I share. The poorest and most vulnerable today are not reached by palliative care,” he questioned.
“My position is emphatically against. And it is not because partisan or religious issuesnor for doubting the good initiatives of those they promote. My philosophical position is because when we talk so much about freedom and rights, they have to be associated with life,” he stated.
Uruguay is the first country to approve it through parliamentary means
Although there are several, although few, countries in the world that allow the process of active euthanasia —although with different conditions and under certain circumstances—, Uruguay became the first of Latin America in having assisted dying not only legalized, but regularized through a bill approved in the Parliament. This is because, in the cases of the region, the law and its practice are regulated, but through sentences judicial.
In this way, and although Colombia is the first to legalize assisted dying in Latin America through the decision of the Constitutional Court in 1997 and its subsequent incorporation into the general regulations through resolutions of the Ministry of Healththe Uruguayan Parliament would be the first to vote on a law in this regard after five years since the first push in the chamber and the failed attempt in 2022.
Source: Ambito
