Uruguay’s Chamber of Representatives has approved the “Dignified Death” bill, opening the way for the possible legalization of euthanasia in the country.

RELATED:

Maduro Launches Nationwide “Special Offensive” to Bolster Security

The vote took place in the early hours of Wednesday after a debate that began at 11:00 a.m. local time (14:00 GMT) Tuesday and extended for more than 12 hours. Sixty-four legislators voted in favor, while 29 opposed the measure. More than 40 lawmakers spoke during the session, presenting arguments both in support and against.

The bill will now be examined by the Senate’s nine-member Health Committee. If it passes there, it will go to the full Senate for a vote before being sent to the Executive for promulgation. A previous initiative approved in the Lower House in 2022 failed to reach the Senate floor due to a lack of votes in the same committee.

The current proposal would decriminalize euthanasia for mentally competent adults in the terminal stage of incurable and irreversible diseases or experiencing “unbearable suffering” as a result of such conditions. It frames the measure as a guarantee of the right to “live the dying process with dignity.”

Broad Front deputy Luis Gallo, supporting the bill, referred to a recent Cifra poll indicating that 62 percent of Uruguayans favor euthanasia. He called on legislators to respond to “the expectations and expressions” of the public’s will, urging colleagues to consider the issue “with sensitivity and responsibility.”

Opposing the measure, National Party deputy Rodrigo Goñi described the day as “very painful” for Uruguay, warning that “several generations will remember it.” He argued that for thousands of Uruguayans in extreme suffering or feeling like a burden, the chamber was offering “premature death” as the solution.

Following the vote, advocacy group Empatía Uruguay, which supports the measure, expressed its gratitude to lawmakers who voted in favor. If fully enacted, Uruguay would become the third country in the Americas to legalize euthanasia, joining Canada and Colombia.

Colombia became the first country in the region to decriminalize euthanasia in 1997 through a Constitutional Court ruling, though the first legal procedure occurred in 2015. Since 2021, access has extended to people with serious, incurable, non-terminal illnesses. According to DescLAB, 270 euthanasia procedures were carried out in 2023—almost 50 percent more than in 2022.

Canada legalized the practice in 2016 following a Supreme Court decision declaring its prohibition unconstitutional. In 2023, 15,343 people received medical assistance to die, representing a 15.8 percent increase over the previous year.

IN THIS ARTICLE