A young Mexican activist living with terminal kidney failure has become the face of a growing national campaign to recognize euthanasia as a constitutional right.
Samara Martínez, a 30-year-old journalist and university professor from Chihuahua, spends ten hours a day connected to a dialysis machine — her only lifeline. Yet she has devoted her remaining strength to championing what she calls a “human right to die with dignity.”
On Tuesday, Martínez and members of the Coalición Muerte Digna Ya presented the “Ley Trasciende” (Transcendence Law) to the Mexican Senate. The proposal seeks to reform both the General Health Law and the Federal Penal Code to permit medically assisted dying and prevent criminal penalties for terminally ill patients who make that choice.
“The Ley Trasciende does not seek to promote death — it seeks to humanize it,” Martínez told senators. “No one should have to die in pain, in fear, or in agony. Dying in peace is also a right.”
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