The assisted suicide of American woman Brittany Maynard on November 1 may have tipped Colombia into legalising euthanasia.
Euthanasia has been in legal limbo in the South American nation since a decision by its Constitutional Court in 1997 that "mercy killing" was constitutional and that doctors who cooperated should not be prosecuted. It urged the government to pass a law to regulate the procedure. The government did nothing. Even sympathetic doctors were afraid to test the law and refused to have anything to do with euthanasia.
However, the issue continued to simmer away. One notorious doctor, Gustavo Quintana , claims that he has killed 200 patients in Colombia and abroad.
Apparently the death of Ms Maynard in Oregon has given new life to the issue, according to the PanAm Post . In November Senator Armando Benedetti, who has introduced three euthanasia bills in the Colombian Congress, tried for a fourth time.
And earlier this week the Constitutional Court set a deadline for the Ministry of Health. It has 30 days to implement euthanasia protocols for doctors. Health agencies are supposed to set up committees to advise patients and their families about how to keep people who are depressed from requesting euthanasia.
The Court said that "without clear rules and precise procedures, doctors do not know exactly when they are committing a crime and when they are contributing to the realization of a fundamental right."