Judge orders euthanasia for a Colombian woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

A judge in Medellín ordered a medical center in that city to reschedule the euthanasia of Martha Sepúlveda, a woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) whose procedure was canceled hours before it was performed earlier this month.

After studying a guardianship action (amparo appeal), the judge ordered the Colombian Pain Institute (Incodol) that “within the non-extendable period of 48 hours following the notification of this decision” agree with Sepúlveda “the day and time in which the euthanasic procedure will have to be carried out, as long as it maintains its willingness to practice it ”.

It also granted “constitutional protection for the protection of fundamental rights to die with dignity, a dignified life, the free development of personality and human dignity” that Incodol “has violated” women.

Sepúlveda’s case became known last month when, in a News Caracol report, he told of his wish to die at 51 years of age.

“If it’s from the spiritual plane, I’m totally calm (…) I’ll be a coward, but I don’t want to suffer anymore, I’m tired. I fight to rest, “said the woman, who added 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, 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 termination criterion is not met as it had been considered, ”according to a statement.

It is the first Colombian to receive the procedure since the Constitutional Court authorized it in July for patients with non-terminal illnesses.

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.

This case caused controversy, because after the publication of the Caracol report, the Episcopal Conference of Colombia invited Sepúlveda “to calmly reflect on his decision.”

“Hopefully (the reflection will be given), if circumstances allow it, away from the harassment of the media that have not hesitated to take his pain and that of his family, to make a kind of propaganda of euthanasia,” he said. Monsignor Francisco Antonio Ceballos Escobar, president of the Episcopal Commission for the Promotion and Defense of Life.

For his part, the representative to the Chamber Juan Fernando Reyes regretted “that they have denied” euthanasia to Martha Sepúlveda “, because” the right to die with dignity is a right of everyone, the State does not have to interfere in that decision or nobody”.

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 a terminal illness when the patient suffered from a lot of pain. It will be requested voluntarily and performed by a doctor.

Although 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.

Only 94 euthanasia procedures have been carried out in the country from April 2015 to May 8, 2020, according to the Ministry of Health, which counts the cases since the procedure was allowed. (I)