Mexico legislator proposes euthanasia rights reform

Diana Sánchez Barrios, a deputy from the Morena party, has introduced an initiative to reform the General Health Law and the Federal Penal Code in Mexico. The proposal aims to guarantee the right to euthanasia as a medical procedure performed by authorized personnel upon the free, voluntary, and informed request of an individual.

The initiative seeks to allow the procedure to end grave, persistent, and irreversible suffering under conditions of dignity and institutional supervision. Sánchez Barrios stated that protecting life should not mean ignoring pain and that individuals should have the right to decide how they live and die.

In contrast, Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel has voiced opposition to the potential legalization of euthanasia, characterizing the practice as murder or assisted suicide. He argued from a religious perspective that life is in the hands of God and that causing harm to oneself or others is immoral, regardless of legal status.