Ecuador decriminalizes euthanasia

QUITO

Ecuador decriminalized euthanasia on Wednesday, becoming the second Latin American country to allow the procedure, in response to a lawsuit brought by a terminally ill patient.

With seven of its nine judges voting in favor, the country's Constitutional Court opened the door for doctors to help an untreatable patient die without going to jail.

The penalty for homicide "cannot be applied to a doctor who performs an active euthanasia procedure in order to preserve the rights to a dignified life," the court ruling said.

The lawsuit was brought in August by Paola Roldan, suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurological condition also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

In her complaint, Roldan contested an article of the Ecuadorian penal code, which considers the procedure a homicide carrying a sentence of between 10 and 13 years in prison.

"I want to rest in peace. What I experience is painful, lonely and cruel," Roldan, who is bedridden, told a court hearing in November via video link.

Following the ruling, she told a news conference that Ecuador is "a little more welcoming, freer and more dignified."

"The fight for human rights is never a paved road," she said.