Cuba becomes the second Latin American country to legalize euthanasia

Cuba has become the second country in Latin America and the Caribbean to legalize euthanasia. The National Assembly of the Communist-led country adopted the right to euthanasia as part of legislation updating the legal framework for the country's universal and free healthcare system.

The final draft of the legislation states, "In view of people's desire to have the right to a dignified death, in cases where treatment efforts have not yielded results, where constant or partial care is required, and where conditions make life difficult, the right to end one's life under conditions that provide for valid procedures may be decided."

Euthanasia and medically assisted suicide, which most religions oppose, spark major debates worldwide; however, only a few countries allow this practice, and some equate it with murder.

At Havana's Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology, the country's leading cancer center, Dr. Alberto Roque, who holds a master's degree in bioethics, welcomed the decision and said it establishes "a completely legal framework for future euthanasia."

Outside the cancer institute, 47-year-old nurse Suaima Lopez, who is a rectal cancer patient, said that she and many patients she knows would choose euthanasia if they could not recover.

Lopez said, "Families want to keep their loved ones alive until the very last moment, but one must also think about those who are suffering. I wish that at a moment when nothing more can be done, we could have a dignified death... Let me die in peace."

Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Canada, Australia, Spain, Germany, New Zealand, and some states in the United States also allow euthanasia, and in some of these countries, medically assisted suicide is permitted even in cases where there are no terminal illnesses, provided there is great suffering.