70-year-old woman asks to be euthanized in Soledad, Atlántico: “If I don't succeed, I'll do it on my own”

Fabiola Betancourt, a 70-year-old woman living in the municipality of Soledad (Atlántico), but from Medellín, lives a daily viacrucis: her six diseases cause her constant pain that not only prevent her from walking, but in general, to lead a quality life. For this reason, he has decided to apply to his EPS for euthanasia.

In a dialogue with the newspaper El Heraldo, the Antioquia woman said that, over time, the diseases that afflict her have degenerated her body, which has caused her to suffer from severe pain every day. Because she lives alone in a room for rent in the El Sol neighborhood, and because she does not have close family members who can help her manage her condition, she asked EPS Mutualser to euthanize her.

Despite the fact that the 70-year-old woman has expressed her health condition and expressed her desire to receive euthanasia, and on more than one occasion she has asked her EPS to tell her what the process is for carrying out the procedure, she assured RCN Radio that Mutualser did not want to provide information about it.

“Every time I go to medical appointments, I ask health professionals to guide me in order to make this request, but no one gives me the corresponding information to carry out euthanasia that is already legal in our country,” Betancourt told the Bogota radio station.

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Reiterating that the multiple diseases that constantly afflict her and which also cause sores to appear on her body, Fabiola told El Heraldo that she will continue to fight for euthanasia, and assured that, if she fails to carry out the procedure legally, she would try to do it on her own.

Given Betancourt's health condition, and because her economic condition does not allow her to receive better care, since she only receives $80,000 per month from the government because she was unable to retire, RCN Radio contacted the communications office of the EPS Mutualser to inquire about the complaints of the 70-year-old woman, to which replied that, at the moment, they are investigating the case.

For her part, Fabiola, in the midst of suffering, asked the EPS before Blu Radio's microphones to guarantee her access to euthanasia, since she assured that day and night she lives “with pain in her legs, hips, arms, shoulders. Sometimes I cry.”

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It should be recalled that, since 2015, euthanasia has been legal in Colombia, however, it was not until last July 2021 that the Constitutional Court extended the right to dignified death to non-terminal patients who suffered “intense physical or mental suffering from bodily injury or serious and incurable diseases”. So far, two Colombians have agreed to euthanasia under these conditions: Victor Escobar and Martha Sepulveda.

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