Martha Sepúlveda, 51, and Víctor Escobar, 60, managed to exercise their right to die with dignity.
Martha Sepúlveda, 51, and Víctor Escobar, 60, both non-terminally ill, managed in recent days to exercise their right to die with dignity in Colombia.
Escobar was the first to be euthanized on Friday. He suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, hypertension, among other problems.
“It was possible to reach the goal that patients like me (…) would win this battle, which opens the doors for the other patients who come after me and who, at this time, want a dignified death,” said Escobar in his farewell message before being admitted for the procedure at a Cali clinic.
The man in the multiple interviews that they carried out in recent weeks showed difficulties in speaking and moving. He was a truck driver and for several years he suffered from COPD and other diseases, such as the aftermath of a cardiovascular accident, depression and severe osteoarthritis, diseases that were deteriorating his life condition and made him depend even on someone else, because he could not fend for himself same.
He began two years ago to find a way to euthanize him, but he encountered barriers, such as medical centers denying the procedure because he was not a terminal patient.
For his part, Sepúlveda is the second person without a terminal illness to receive it, after the Constitutional Court authorized it last July for this type of patient.
However, in September the Colombian woman, who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), had her euthanasia canceled a few hours after it was to be performed.
Sepúlveda died on Saturday at the Colombian Institute of Pain (Incodol), in the city of Medellín, after a tireless struggle to exercise his right to die with dignity, which in Colombia has been legal since 1997, although it did not begin until 2015.
The July ruling of the Court, which modifies the “mercy killing” of the Penal Code and which previously contemplated penalties of up to 54 months in prison, annuls that first requirement that the person who requests it suffers from a terminal illness, and does so motivated by the barriers that still persist in the country to exercise this right.
Sepúlveda’s case became known last September when, in a report by Snail News, He recounted his wish to die: “If it is from the spiritual plane, I am totally calm (…). I will be a coward, but I don’t want to suffer anymore, I’m tired. I fight to rest, “said the woman, adding that the certainty of dying gave her” peace of mind. “
Since she was diagnosed, the woman began to lose strength in her legs and it became increasingly difficult to walk long distances, which worsened her quality of life.
However, hours before the process was performed in September, Incodol decided to cancel the procedure by “having an updated concept of the patient’s health and evolution” with which “it is defined that the criteria of termination as it had been considered ”, according to indicated in a statement.
Then, a judge in Medellín ordered the medical center to reschedule euthanasia, “as long as she (Sepúlveda) maintains her willingness to practice it.” And the health provider gave the authorization and “the procedure was carried out,” as confirmed to the local newspaper. The Colombian.
Euthanasia in Colombia
Colombia was the first country in Latin America to decriminalize euthanasia and is one of the few in the world where it is legal after the Constitutional Constitution consecrated in 1997 dignified death as a fundamental right in the event of terminal illness, when the patient suffered a lot of pain. , will request it voluntarily and will be performed by a doctor.
Despite the fact that it has been legal since 1997, this right did not begin to be exercised until 2015 and the procedures still face barriers, such as that it is only performed in certain cities and many medical centers do not know how to act.
In the country, only 94 euthanasia procedures have been carried out from April 2015 to May 8, 2020, according to the Ministry of Health, which counts the cases since the procedure was allowed. (I)
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