A 51-year-old Colombian woman died by euthanasia on Saturday (8 January) after a historic legal battle to exercise the right in this majority-Catholic country.
The case of Martha Sepúlveda drew international attention last year when she planned to become the first person in Colombia without a terminal prognosis to die by legally authorised euthanasia. But, reports the Washington Post, less than two days before she planned to die in October, a medical committee determined she no longer met the conditions and canceled the procedure. A judge eventually cleared the way for Sepúlveda to move forward.
The mother and devout Catholic died “according to her idea of autonomy and dignity,” her lawyers said in a statement from the firm representing her, the Laboratory of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (DescLAB).
The procedure was carried out in Medellín without obstacles or barriers, they said.
“Martha left grateful to all of the people who accompanied and supported her, those who prayed for her and had words of empathy and love during these difficult months,” they said. “Marthaʼs legacy is built on the life stories and cases that over 29 years have reached the constitutional Court and have allowed Colombia to be one of the few countries in the world where death with dignity and euthanasia are a right of citizens.”
Colombia was one of the first countries in the world to decriminalise euthanasia; its constitutional court recognised the right in 1997. But for many years, the country extended the right only to patients with a terminal prognosis of six months or less.
Sepúlveda suffered from the progressive neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrigʼs disease. After being diagnosed in November 2018, she began to lose control of the muscles in her legs, to live in constant pain and to fear a future that would only get worse. Euthanasia offered her an escape from further suffering, her family and lawyers said.
Although ALS is a fatal disease with no cure, patients can survive from two to 10 years or more, depending on how their condition’s progress. When Sepúlveda first sought out euthanasia, her prognosis did not qualify as “terminal”.
But last July, the countryʼs constitutional court ruled that the right applies not only to terminal patients but also to those with “intense physical or mental suffering from bodily injury or serious and incurable disease”. The decision allowed Sepúlveda to schedule her euthanasia for 10 October.
As her story circulated in Colombian news in early October, her decision drew a rebuke from local church leaders. A member of the national bishopsʼ conference urged Sepúlveda to “calmly reflect” on her decision and invited Catholics to pray that God would grant her mercy.
Then, in an 11th-hour move, her euthanasia was abruptly cancelled. The Colombian Institute of Pain, or Incodol, which had been scheduled to carry out the procedure, said Sepúlvedaʼs condition had improved between July and October. The committee found no evidence meeting the requirements of degenerative, progressive and incurable illness, according to an explanation from the committee that was provided to The Washington Post by Sepúlvedaʼs lawyer.
Committee members based their decision, at least in part, on media coverage of Sepúlveda, who appeared on television smiling and laughing as she dined at a local restaurant.
DescLAB, the law firm representing her, described the move as “illegitimate and arbitrary”, and one that violated Sepúlvedaʼs right to a “dignified death.”
After the surprise decision, Sepúlveda and her family resolved to stay silent as her lawyers took her case to the courts. After her appeal, a judge from Medellín ruled on 27 October that Sepúlveda was entitled to die by euthanasia.
The judge confirmed that patients who endure intense physical or mental suffering — with diseases such as Lou Gehrig’s — are legally allowed to access euthanasia even if their prognosis is not terminal, and that Sepúlvedaʼs health provider was not justified in its denial of her request.
The judge highlighted the lack of a cure or a medical treatment to stop the progression of ALS and said Sepúlveda presented significant evidence that her functional motor abilities would only worsen over time.
Neither the Ministry of Health nor Sepúlvedaʼs health provider challenged the ruling, allowing Sepúlveda to reschedule her appointment.
On Friday, a day before Sepúlvedaʼs death, a different Colombian patient became the first person without a terminal prognosis to die by euthanasia. The patient, a man in Cali named Victor Escobar, suffered from end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“The fight to take control over the end of life continues and will not end until people in Colombia can access an assisted medical death according to their will and without barriers,” Sepúlvedaʼs lawyers said.
Federico Redondo Sepúlveda, Marthaʼs only child, posted a photo on Twitter on Thursday, two days before his motherʼs death. It shows him with his hand on his motherʼs shoulder, both of them laughing.
Before her death, Sepúlveda spoke about her Catholic faith and her belief that God would support her in her decision. “I know that God is the owner of life,” she told Colombiaʼs Caracol News. “But God doesnʼt want to see me suffer.”
And on Saturday, in the hours after her death, Sepúlvedaʼs son and family joined to celebrate Mass — just as his mother wanted.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Austria submits draft legislation on assisted suicide
Despite Catholic majority, Spain wins right to medically assisted death
Portugal's top court narrowly rejects euthanasia Bill over 'imprecision'
Switzerland gives legal approval to suicide pod