On September 9, in the Health Commission of the Chilean Senate, the Euthanasia bill sent by the Government was approved; 2 left-wing and 1 independent senators voted in favor and 2 right-wing senators voted against. It will now go to the floor to be voted by all the senators.
In the previous weeks, several experts spoke before the Commission. Cardinal Fernando Chomalí, Archbishop of Santiago, accompanied by Bishop Juan Ignacio González, Bishop of San Bernardo, presented the position of the Catholic Church.
The day after the vote, the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Conference of Chile issued a statement. They begin by recalling the words of St. John Paul II: "Euthanasia remains an inadmissible act, even in extreme cases, since it constitutes "a grave violation of the Law of God, insofar as it is a deliberate and morally unacceptable elimination of a human person. This doctrine is based on the natural law and on the written Word of God; it is handed down by the Tradition of the Church and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium" (Evangelium Vitae, n. 65).
They recall that "Medical science and the legislative experience of other nations have warned - based on the reality of what has happened - that the legal opening to euthanasia always walks towards a progressive expansion of the admitted causes, leading, eventually, to the so-called medicine of desire, where the value of life is measured by utility or a personal decision."
The bishops trust in the wisdom of the Senate and its responsibility to protect life, so they hope that legislation allowing euthanasia will not pass.
A vote on this bill is expected to take place on the Senate floor in the coming weeks, the outcome of which is uncertain.
