On October 15, after five years of negotiations in Congress, Uruguay became the first Latin American country to legalize euthanasia, i.e., the practice of taking medical action to end life at the request of a patient. As with all such laws throughout the world, the measure is intended as a way to eliminate suffering among terminally ill patients. Euthanasia is currently decriminalized in Colombia and Ecuador as well, but in those cases, that has been the result of court decisions rather than changes in legislation.

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