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KMID : 1011120170100020051
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Bioethics Policy Studies
2017 Volume.10 No. 2 p.51 ~ p.68
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How to Die in Colombia: A Constitutional Dilemma
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Palomino Estefania
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Abstract
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In 1997, Colombia’s Constitutional Court decriminalized the medical practice of euthanasia in patients with serious and incurable diseases. Decision C-239 became one of the most radical advancements on the right to die debates in the world. At the time, European countries who have led this discussion, such as the Netherlands, hadn’t legalized and incorporated the right to die into their own legal systems. In 2015, Colombia’s Constitutional Court authorized the first legal clinical euthanasia in the country through a constitutional process also known as tutela on behalf of 79-year old Ovidio Gonzalez. Mr. Gonzalez decided to die at a clinic due to the suffering that he was experiencing while battling throat cancer. In this paper, I analyze the reasoning behind Decision C-239 and the long pathway to its implementation in the first Latin American country to legalize euthanasia. I will also examine other constitutional actions presented by terminal patients in defense of their right to die. The objective of this article is to provide routes of constitutional strategic litigation for advocates in other countries by building upon Colombia’s experience, and to study the role of the Constitutional Court in shaping ethical debates such as euthanasia.
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KEYWORD
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Euthanasia, Right to die, Colombia, Tutela, Ethics
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