On Tuesday April 20, Chile’s Chamber of Deputies approved a bill to allow euthanasia and assisted suicide for those over 18. The bill was already submitted to congress by the center-left opposition in 2014.
The bill
The initiative seeks to regulate euthanasia, in which a doctor administers a drug that causes death, and assisted suicide, in which a doctor gives a drug that the patients take themselves.
Under the bill, a person seeking euthanasia would have to be diagnosed by two doctors as having a serious and incurable disease, be conscious when making the request or have previously established the request, and suffer from unbearable physical ailments.
Cecilia Heyder
Cecilia Heyder is a Chilean activist for the right to a dignified death and who suffers from metastatic cancer, lupus and a blood disorder. Heyder hopes that in the coming days lawmakers will approve legislation that decriminalizes euthanasia, which establishes that people suffering from serious and irremediable illnesses can request euthanasia or assisted suicide. Cecilia Heyder during an interview with The Associated Press at a park in Santiago, Chile, April 15, 2021.
What’s next?
The bill now goes to the Senate for debate.
Chile