MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

New euthanasia bill submitted before Uruguayan Congress

We cannot force people to suffer, argued Preve

Uruguayan lawmakers submitted a new euthanasia bill before the Lower House, reviving a proposal already passed there in 2022 but stalled in the Senate. The bill, introduced by deputies from the Colorado Party (PC) and the ruling Brooad Front (Frente Amplio - FA), is supported by a multiparty coalition including members of the Partido Nacional and Partido Independiente. The initiative seeks to allow assisted death for individuals with terminal, incurable, and irreversible diseases.

 To that end, the measure would require strict conditions such as the patient's express and repeated consent, with medical protocols ensuring ethical application.

Supporters like Felipe Schipani (PC) and Federico Preve (FA) argue it upholds freedom, dignity, and human rights, citing widespread public support and international precedents in countries like Canada, Spain, and Colombia.

Critics, such as Rodrigo Goñi (Partido Nacional), oppose it, arguing it lacks guarantees for vulnerable people and promotes death over palliative care, which he claims effectively relieves suffering.

The draft consists of 12 articles detailing eligibility, procedures, patient rights (including revocation of consent), and the health system's duties while allowing conscientious objection for medical personnel.

Schipani pointed out that it is the same bill approved in 2022, originally promoted by Ope Pasquet, albeit in this case with other lawmakers endorsing it. “It is a multi-party project that has a very important political support base and that is relevant to the extent that it consecrates two fundamental principles: that of the freedom that all people have in a very complex situation such as the suffering of an incurable disease” and “that of human dignity. No human being has to suffer unnecessarily,” he insisted.

Meanwhile, Preve pointed out that this is an issue that has been on the public agenda for several years. In his view, the Uruguayan “society, the medical body, the legislators, the legal field have been discussing it for at least five, six years.”

“The issue has matured, it has a wide approval in the population of euthanasia as the end of life with dignity, in certain circumstances and with guarantees. We cannot force people to suffer,” he argued. “It is a human right, it does not force anyone. It is a priority for the country,” he went on.

On the other hand, Congressman Rodrigo Goñi of the National Party said he would seek “to avoid by all means killing or giving early death to the most vulnerable people.”

“A person who suffers, what he or she must have is relief from suffering,” he further noted. “The Palliative Care Law and its application has shown that thousands of people who would have gone to euthanasia found in palliative care the relief of suffering and today they want to continue living,” he also explained. “The solution for the person who suffers is to relieve him, not to kill him.”

He also claimed that the previous and the current wording were “an aberration” with which “we are going to kill a lot of people in a fragile situation, in a vulnerable situation, without any kind of guarantee.”