The future of the new bill to regulate euthanasia in Colombia is still uncertain as the debates continue in the senate on Tuesday.
Voices for and against the new bill, which would aim to regulate the practice of euthanasia since it was decriminalized in 1997, will have their say in debates on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Coalition U Party Senator Armando Benedetti introduced the initiative and is subsequently the leading voice for its implementation in Colombia.
He and fellow supporters are of the opinion that, “Life is no longer worthy when someone has a terminal illness, or is having intense pain and scientifically is not going to survive. In these cases that person can determine if life is no longer worth living and ask for euthanasia,” reported newspaper El Espectador.
Benedetti has previously placed importance on the “state’s duty to protect life.” According to the bill, rigorous procedures including psychiatric assessment and counseling must be adhered to before the patient can make an informed decision.
Opponents of the practice include the Catholic Church, which condemns euthanasia as a “crime against life.”
On this Benedetti said, “There are minorities who have no religion; they believe that if life is no longer worth living, it can be finished.”
The debates are set to continue in a senate meeting on Wednesday.