Following in the footsteps of Colombia, Cuba has become the second country in Latin America and the Caribbean to legalize euthanasia — the practice of intentionally ending life to alleviate pain and suffering. The Communist-run country’s National Assembly approved the decision as part of legislation aimed at updating the legal framework of Cuba’s universal and free healthcare system.
The law that was recently signed into law states, “The right of people to a dignified death is recognized in end-of-life decisions, which may include the limitation of therapeutic effort, continuous or palliative care, and valid procedures that end life.”
What does it imply?
This is a significant step forward for the South American country because it establishes guidelines for future euthanasia practices that include both active euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Euthanasia and medically assisted suicide, both of which have faced religious opposition, continue to stoke global debate. While only a few countries allow these practices, some consider them contentious and akin to murder.
Dr. Alberto Roque, who has a master’s degree in bioethics and works at Havana’s Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology, the country’s leading cancer center, welcomed the measure and said it established the “legal framework for future euthanasia in any of its forms, that is, active euthanasia or assisted suicide.”
In Cuba, there is a debate about euthanasia.
Suaima Lopez, a 47-year-old nurse, was spotted outside the cancer institute, according to Reuters, suffering from rectal cancer, said she favored euthanasia in case she or other patients did not recover.
“Families want to keep loved ones alive until the very, very last moment but one has to think of those suffering,” Lopez was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“If only we could have a dignified death… at a certain moment when nothing can be done anymore… let me die peacefully, in peace and harmony,” she went on to say.
Countries such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Canada, Australia, Spain, Germany, New Zealand, and some U.S. states already permit euthanasia and, in some cases, medically assisted suicide in cases of severe pain without a terminal illness.