The Constitutional Court of Ecuador has approved the decriminalization of euthanasia in the South American country.
The decision was adopted with seven favorable votes from the nine judges who make up the court.
The judges decided that the practice will enjoy "constitutionality" and the doctor in charge of the procedure "will not be convicted".
The court indicated as a necessary condition that the patient experiences "a condition of intense suffering resulting from a serious and irreversible bodily injury, or from a serious and incurable illness".
The court ruled in favor of the case presented by Paola Roldán, a 42-year-old suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who had been fighting for three years to have the possibility of a dignified death.
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