They suspend the euthanasia of Martha Sepúlveda because her case "does not meet the termination criteria"

Martha Sepúlveda will not die this Sunday, as was her wish.

The 51-year-old Colombian woman suffering from a degenerative disease without a terminal diagnosis had decided to go to euthanasia.

Everything was ready for Sunday morning at the Colombian Pain Institute, and Sepúlveda had said she was "happy" and "calm" to end her life.

But this Saturday a committee of the center reversed the decision to grant him assisted death and suspended the procedure, arguing that the case

does not meet "the termination criteria"

.

as had been considered at first.

"The cancellation decision 

is based on number 26.6 of resolution 971 of 2021 of the Ministry of Health

 that assigns the committee within its functions to 

review the application process and the

 complete

euthanasia procedure

, in order to detect any situation that affect its development, "the center said in a statement.

"That is why 

by having an updated concept

of the patient's

 health and 

evolution

, it is defined that 

the termination criterion is not met

 as had been considered in the first committee," he added.

Sepúlveda had made the decision to die by euthanasia due to the intense pain caused by his disease called 

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

(ALS), which he has suffered since 2009.

It is an incurable disease

of the nervous system that progressively affects the mobility of the body.

Life expectancy ranges from two years to decades.

Some patients cope without problems, but in many cases, like Martha's, it can be serious. 

"In the state that I have it [the disease], the best thing that can happen to me is to rest," said the woman of Catholic faith.

Sepúlveda would have been 

the first patient without a terminal diagnosis 

to receive euthanasia in Colombia, a pioneer country in the right to a dignified death in Latin America and the world. 

“God does not want to see me suffer, and I believe that no one.

No parent wants to see their children suffer, "he had said.

Colombia was the first country in Latin America to decriminalize euthanasia, in 1997, and it is one of the few in the world where the procedure is legal.

But until this year, it was only allowed in cases of terminal illnesses (those with a life expectancy of six months or less).

It is unclear whether the family will take action to insist on the procedure.