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Uruguay has recorded its first euthanasia case, with a medical source telling AFP that the first person to die by euthanasia in the country died on Friday.
The South American country legalised assisted dying in October 2025 after passing the so-called “Dignified Death” bill, making it the first country in Latin America to legalise assisted dying.
The law permits assisted suicide for adult Uruguayan citizens or residents who are mentally competent and in the terminal stage of an incurable disease that causes them suffering.
The first recorded death of this type “took place today,” a source from Uruguay’s Medical Association told AFP Friday, one month after the legislation came into effect.
Media outlet Telenoche 4 had reported that the first euthanasia procedure in the country had been carried out in Montevideo on a 69-year-old woman with terminal cancer.
Leftist lawmaker from the ruling party, Federico Preve, said it was “a very important, symbolic day for the country.”
“This person was able to choose to die in peace. They were able to choose to pass away in accordance with their own convictions,” he told reporters.
According to AFP, Uruguay has a long history of passing socially liberal laws, legalising marijuana, same-sex marriage and abortion long before most others.
Its Medical Association has not taken a stance on euthanasia and allows its doctor members to follow their own conscience.
Elsewhere in Latin America, Colombia and Ecuador have decriminalised assisted dying through court rulings.
