At the WF Conference in Chicago Laura Belli informed the audience about the state of the art in Argentina concerning dying with dignity. On May 9, 2012 the Law No. 26742, known as the “Dignified Death” law was enacted (read the English version here). The public debate that led to the promulgation of the law began a year before due to two relevant cases that caught the attention of the media.
This rule has some interesting features (advanced directives, informed consent, palliative care, right to refuse treatment, protection to the health care professionals…) but sadly the Catholic Church manage to include a prohibition agains euthanasia and to narrow the scope only to terminal patients.
Two years have passed and few people are aware of this new right. Most health care professionals are not familiarized with the law and that´s a big problem. There is not even one right to die organization in Argentina.
Argentina