Uruguay’s lower house of parliament votes to legalize euthanasia

Uruguay’s lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Representatives, voted last Wednesday to legalize euthanasia following an overnight debate, according to The Straits Times.

Key Takeaways:

• A majority of Uruguay Representatives voted in favor of a bill to allow someone with a “terminal or incurable” illness to be killed.

• President Yamandu Orsi also supports the bill.

• Under the wording of the bill, people with disabilities could be eligible.

The Details:

The Dignified Death Law to allow physician-assisted death passed by 64 votes with 93 of the 99 members present, and will now move to the Chamber of Senators. If passed, the bill would allow adults with a condition considered “terminal or incurable” to request euthanasia. It is believed that the senate will also pass the deadly bill, and President Yamandu Orsi also supports it.

Under the bill, adults deemed “psychologically fit” and living with chronic, incurable, and irreversible health conditions that severely impair their quality of life or cause unbearable suffering would be eligible to ask a doctor to prescribe death. A person’s condition does not have to be considered “terminal.”

An amendment to the bill states that if two doctors disagree on a person’s approval for assisted death, a medical board review must be carried out.

The Economist called the law “strikingly liberal” — even more so than the assisted death bill undergoing debate in Britain, which limits euthanasia to people with terminal illnesses who will die in six months or less. Uruguay’s law does not have such limits.

The restrictions it does have could be done away with relatively quickly, as has been done in other nations that legalized assisted death, like Canada. Uruguay has proven to be more liberal, calling Easter “Tourism Week” and Christmas “Family Day” to ensure separation of church and state. It was also one of the first South American nations to legalize abortion — in 2012.

Why It Matters:

It’s been proven that once assisted death is legalized, the restrictions put in place slowly get voted down, expanding access to physician-assisted death. Uruguay’s proposed law is already starting off more liberal than others, allowing assisted death for people not considered terminal.

This means any adult with a chronic health condition could apply for death based on their idea of “unbearable suffering” when approved by doctors. This could include anything from diabetes to cystic fibrosis and other conditions that are chronic but have treatments that can improve quality of life and extend the life span.

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