ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 15, 2024 / 18:30 pm
In a Feb. 14 statement, the Ecuadorian Bishops’ Conference expressed its profound concern and disagreement with the Constitutional Court’s recent decision to decriminalize euthanasia in the country.
“Human life is sacred and inviolable. Any complicity with death ends up being paid for by the weakest and most vulnerable. A society that does not defend them is condemned to the greatest manipulations and the worst tragedies. It is diabolical to want to defend life by giving a homicide a legal framework,” the bishops said.
On Feb. 7, the country’s highest court declared Article 144 of the Penal Code to be constitutional in general (conditional constitutionality) but made an exception for euthanasia under certain conditions. The article punishes causing a person to die under various circumstances (i.e., not first degree murder) with prison sentences of 10 to 13 years.
According to the court ruling, the article remains valid, but an exception is established for doctors who help patients who meet certain criteria: first, that the person requests euthanasia in a free and informed manner or through a representative if the patient cannot express himself; second, that the patient is suffering intensely due to a serious and irreversible injury or an incurable disease.