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Beatriz Gelos, a woman suffering amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) leaves the Senate after attending part of a session on a bill to legalize euthanasia, which was approved by the lower house, in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

MONTEVIDEO – Uruguay’s senate passed a law decriminalizing euthanasia on Wednesday, putting the South American nation among a handful of other countries where seriously ill patients can legally obtain help to end their lives.

It makes Uruguay the first country in predominantly Catholic Latin America to allow euthanasia via legislation. Colombia and Ecuador have decriminalized the practice through Supreme Court decisions.

In Chile, left-wing President G

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