El derecho a la vida digna vs. el derecho a la muerte digna, implicaciones en los derechos fundamentales en Ecuador.

Abstract

Ecuador, a constitutional state of rights and justice, within its Constitution as the supreme norm, frames the rights of individuals as a priority, as these are the most deeply rooted in the life of every human being the fundamental rights, such as the right to life. The main objective of this essay is to determine, based on Constitutional Court ruling 67-23- IN/24, whether the application of euthanasia can be considered a fundamental right: the right to a dignified death. This study employs a qualitative approach, based on doctrinal and jurisprudential analysis of ruling 67-23-IN/24 of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador. It will analyze what the Constitutional Court stated in its ruling regarding the conditional unconstitutionality of Article 144 of the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code, which classifies simple homicide. As a result, medical personnel who perform euthanasia on patients with a terminal illness or irreversible condition causing intense suffering — and who can freely, unequivocally, and informedly consent to end their lives — will not be penalized. This is in accordance with Article 66, paragraph 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, which refers to a dignified life, and Article 66, paragraph 5, which recognizes the right to the free development of personality.