Euthanasia in Mexico

[3] While the exact procedure may vary, the regional laws dealing with living wills —usually called leyes de Voluntad Anticipada— generally require a notary public to witness the instructions left by the patient.

Official statistics are scarce, but bioethicist Horacio García Romero claims that up to 45% of the terminally-ill patients in the country demand some form of passive euthanasia.

[8] In October 2010, the secretary of health for Mexico City announced that, since the legalization of passive euthanasia, 497 patients have formalized the process,[9] including at least 41 out-of-state residents and 2 citizens of the United States.

[10] According to a Parametría poll conducted in February 2008, 59% of Mexicans think doctors should have the legal right to end the life of a person suffering from an incurable illness upon a request by the patient and his or her relatives, while 35% disagree.

[11] Its main opponents, anti-abortion activists[12] and Christian churches[13] —particularly the dominant Roman Catholic Church— have strongly lobbied against active euthanasia and promote different bills protecting the right to life "from the moment of conception until natural death.