The purpose of this article goes beyond any ethical or religious debate. While we acknowledge that euthanasia is a controversial subject, our focus here is solely on its legality.
In Panama, euthanasia is illegal, as it is not permitted by law. Law 68 of 2003, which regulates patients’ rights and duties regarding information and free, informed decision-making, explicitly prohibits both euthanasia and assisted suicide.
This means that no doctor or healthcare professional may cause or facilitate a patient’s death, even at the patient’s own request.
To clarify further, it is important to define the term euthanasia. Etymologically, it means “good death,” derived from the Greek rootseu (good) and thanatos (death). The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) defines euthanasia as “a deliberate intervention to end the life of a patient with no prospect of cure.”
In simple terms, euthanasia is the intentional act of causing a person’s death to spare them from suffering, usually in cases of severe or terminal illness. This occurs when a physician directly causes the patient’s death by administering lethal substances. Assisted suicide, on the other hand, occurs when the patient self-administers lethal substances to end their own life, with the deliberate help of a healthcare professional.
From an ethical standpoint, both practices are controversial. Euthanasia faces stronger criticism, as the physician directly causes death. Assisted suicide is also reproachable, since the physician assists in the process, even if not directly causing death.
Dignified Death as an Emerging Human Right
There are human rights that emerge over time to respond to various social demands. This is known as "emerging rights," acknowledging that there are more rights than those previously established in domestic and international legal systems. The universal and constitutional guarantees enshrined are not a static, spatial-temporal appropriation, but rather the foundation upon which the present can be transformed.
In this context, the right to die with dignity falls within the category of emerging rights, recognized differently in each country, often through judicial activism and local legal processes.
Although euthanasia is prohibited in Panama, national legislation does recognize the right to a dignified death. This right allows patients to refuse medical treatments that artificially prolong their lives when such treatments no longer provide quality of life or well-being. The principle behind this is patient autonomy. It involves the possibility of dying without pain, with serenity, and with access to palliative care. This includes choices such as refusing invasive procedures, avoiding therapies that only extend suffering, or suspending life-support machines in irreversible cases.
It is not about “hastening death” but about allowing death to occur naturally, prioritizing the patient’s dignity and respecting their wishes.
Panama and Colombia: Two Different Paths
While Panama explicitly prohibits euthanasia, neighboring Colombia has decriminalized and regulated the practice. In Colombia, patients with serious, incurable illnesses who suffer intolerably may request euthanasia under strict medical and legal conditions.
Legalization or regulation of euthanasia and assisted suicide does not necessarily establish a legal or constitutional right to these practices; it merely means they are decriminalized. While some countries recognize an individual legal or constitutional right to assisted death, others simply refrain from punishing it.
Advance Medical Directives: A Key Tool
In Panama, one of the most effective ways to exercise the right to a dignified death is through an advance medical directive. This is a document in which a person records their preferences regarding medical treatments and care in the event that they become unable to express them in the future, due to conditions that impair their mental or cognitive abilities. To learn more about this topic, you can read our article: La voluntad médica anticipada
By executing an advance medical directive, patients exercise their right to make autonomous decisions about the diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic procedures applied to their health and illness, as well as their right to confidentiality and to freely choose among treatment options.
Having this document in place ensures that both family members and medical teams respect the patient’s wishes, while also preventing rushed decisions during moments of crisis. If you are considering preparing an advance medical directive or wish to learn more about it, do not hesitate to contact us. Our team of specialized attorneys, together with healthcare professionals, can guide you to ensure the document has full legal validity and faithfully reflects your wishes.
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