Euthanasia became legal in Uruguay with the so called Dignified Death Bill[1] which was promulgated in October 2025.[2] It recognises the right of mentally sound adults in the terminal stage of an incurable and irreversible disease to request euthanasia to be administered by a doctor on their behalf, this procedure is known as active euthanasia.
Any patient who requests to be euthanized will first need to get a doctor’s counsel and approval, and then that of an second doctor independent of the first one or a medical board in case of disagreement between the first two. The patient will then undergo another interview, and finally, they will have to ratify their decision before two witnesses at least one of whom shall not receive any financial benefit due to the death of the declarant.[3]
According to the law, the physician and other members of the healthcare may validly object to provide their services for reasons of religion or conscience under the figure of conscientious objector. In such a case, the healthcare institution will determine who should replace them, always ensuring the provision of the service.
Background
The 1933 Penal Code of Uruguay was among the first legal documents to include a provision relating to euthanasia. It allowed judges, in its article 37, to pardon the so called "merciful homicide"[4][5] stating that:
Article 37. Judges have the power to exonerate from punishment a person with an honorable record who commits a homicide, carried out out of mercy, through repeated pleas from the victim.
This de facto permissive stance has led the Hungarian medical journal Orvosi Hetilap to consider Uruguay as having legalised a form of active euthanasia.[6]
In 2009 parliament approved the "Anticipated Will Law"[7] or "Good Dying Law", which explicitly recognised the freedom of a patient of legal age and mentally fit, voluntarily, consciously and freely to refuse treatment, including palliative care in the case of a terminal, incurable and irreversible illness, this procedure is known as passive euthanasia.
Due to Uruguay bicameral system it needed approval from both chambers to become law. On 15 October 2025, the Senate approved and enacted the bill into law as passed by the Chamber of Representatives, with 20 votes out of 31. The affirmative votes came from the entirety of the Broad Front bench, Graciela Bianchi of the National Party, and Ope Pasquet -who in his position of substitute to Robert Silva was ceded the bench to vote as the as a symbolic way to recognise his efforts in writing the law- and Heber Duque of the Colorado Party.[10][2]
↑ "la diaria". la diaria (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-10-16.
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