Cuba publishes euthanasia regulation, but postpones its application

Havana.- The Cuban Government published this Friday in the Official Gazette the new Public Health law, which recognizes the right to a dignified death and defines the assumptions for applying euthanasia, although it postponed its application until a specific regulation is approved to regulate it.

The norm puts Cuba on the path to becoming the second Latin American country to allow assisted death, which in the case of the text would be recognized as "valid procedures that end life." Although there are still legal steps to take. The text, which was approved by Parliament at the end of 2023, does not define deadlines for issuing the complementary law that will allow its application in practice, but only limits itself to ensuring this, which will be applied "when the conditions are created in the country".

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The factors on which approval will depend

The document states that the right to a dignified death can be exercised for those suffering from chronic degenerative or irreversible diseases; they suffer from "untreatable" suffering or have a "health condition in an agonizing phase" or terminal. Similarly, the patient can "express to the healthcare staff their refusal to receive medical procedures, even if they could mean an improvement". For the applicant's opinion to be valid - provided it complies with the scenarios considered by law - doctors must consider that they are in full mental capacity. You can also read: Another valid option, according to the document, is the advance directive: a legal document where a person previously expresses which medical treatments they accept or reject in case they lose the ability to decide. The text also assures that the cases will be analyzed by an ethics committee, without going into further detail.