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Puebla, Mexico, Nov 11, 2025 / 15:34 pm (CNA).
The Catholic Church in Mexico expressed its opposition to the attempt to legalize euthanasia and warned of the "risk of validating totalitarian and eugenic ideologies."
In an editorial in its weekly publication Desde la fe ("From the Faith"), titled "A Good Death and the Myth of Euthanasia," the Archdiocese of Mexico City lamented that "a campaign to promote euthanasia has begun, taking it as a fact that euthanasia means the same thing as a good death."
The editorial called it "a major error from an anthropological, legal, and human rights perspective" to believe that the Mexican Constitution "only protects a life with dignity," while "life that involves pain and suffering is considered unworthy" of the person.
From this perspective, the archdiocese warned, "we would be at risk of validating totalitarian and eugenic ideologies that have existed throughout human history and have caused so much harm, discarding the lives of millions that "weren't worth living."
The editorial also noted that it is "appalling" to think that those suffering from terminal illnesses in Mexico "are being offered death as a way out of their situation." This, the archdiocese warned, "means we are failing in our capacity to offer relief, support, and comfort, despite the advances of science."
'Law That Transcends' would legalize euthanasia in Mexico
On Oct. 29, a bill known as "The Law That Transcends" was introduced in the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) of the Mexican federal Congress.
Announcing the initiative, Samara Martínez, a pro-euthanasia activist who suffers from systemic lupus erythematosus, argued that "it is not a law about death, it is a law about life, with meaning until the last breath."
"Denying the possibility of death with dignity does not preserve life, it prolongs suffering, and that is not justice, it is omission," she said.
The bill is supported by the ruling Morena party, along with the Labor Party and the Citizens' Movement.
According to Representative Patricia Mercado of the Citizens' Movement party, euthanasia "reaffirms the right to a life with dignity"; while Sen. Emmanuel Reyes of Morena asserted that "today the conditions are right to move forward" with euthanasia legislation.
Ana Luisa Del Muro of the Labor Party stated that legalizing euthanasia aims to allow people to "die with dignity and, above all, without pain."
Currently, Article 312 of the Mexican Federal Penal Code establishes a prison sentence of one to five years for anyone who "assists or induces another to commit suicide."
Euthanasia 'causes a lot of suffering'
In a video released by the National Front for the Family, Dr. Marta Tarasco Michel, co-founder of the Department of Bioethics at Anahuac University in Mexico, stated that "no one in principle wants to die," and this "is very simple to demonstrate; it consists of administering a lethal injection containing the same type of medication used in capital punishment."
In euthanasia, she said, "the patient will feel a lot of pain, will experience asphyxiation. This is said to be very quick, but suffocating is very difficult for anyone, so this causes a lot of suffering."
Those promoting this legislative initiative, the expert said, "should at least clearly explain what euthanasia is, how little it actually resolves the situation, and also provide many more palliative care services."
Dr. Luz Adriana Templos Esteban, president of the Mexican College of Palliative Care and Support, A.C., lamented in another video shared by the National Front for the Family that "although Mexico is one of the countries with fairly comprehensive regulations regarding palliative care, we don't have adequate implementation, and evidently, within communities, individuals, and patients, there is a lack of awareness that you can receive palliative care as a human right."
"Palliative care allows us to improve people's quality of life and, obviously, offer a support system for both the patient and his family," she emphasized, such that "we allow for a natural death within a framework of dignity and avoid suffering, which is precisely what people are seeking."
"What people want is not euthanasia; what they want is to not suffer and, obviously, not to have their lives taken," she affirmed.
'We must end suffering, not do away with the suffering person'
In its editorial, the Archdiocese of Mexico City pointed out that "there is a romanticized notion that euthanasia means dying without pain, but there is also medical testimony that the person who undergoes death via lethal injection does in fact suffer, and it is not pleasant for loved ones to witness that scene."
The archdiocese also noted that the initiative "mentions that euthanasia can be requested before a notary public and that there is the right to conscientious objection for doctors. The question that follows is: Wouldn't notaries public also have the right to conscientious objection?"
Recalling the existence and development of palliative care, "which increasingly allows people to die at home, surrounded by their families, in a natural way," the archdiocese emphasized that "we must make a reality of a phrase that is becoming increasingly well known: 'We must end the pain, not do away with the suffering person.'"
"The resources that the state must dedicate to palliative care are considerable, but they are necessary for the dignity of all Mexicans, healthy and sick," the editorial underscored, warning that "seeking to reduce these expenses by offering euthanasia is inhumane and is a symbol of a state faltering in its duty."
The Archdiocese of Mexico City highlighted at the end of its editorial that Pope Leo XIV has called for November to be dedicated to prayer for suicide prevention, noting that "the pope reminds us that neither pain nor suffering takes away the value of life."
"We urge the authorities of the state not to take the easy way out when dealing with illness, not to force notaries and doctors to act against their convictions and conscience, and to work to ensure that all the sick receive medication and treatment, specialized care, and the love of their families, so that death is not the answer to suffering," the archdiocese stated.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
