Argentina has overwhelmingly approved a ‘dignified death’ law giving terminally ill patients and their families more power to make end-of-life decisions.

The law passed by a vote of 55 to zero, with 17 senators declaring themselves absent. The law expressly forbids euthanasia, but focuses on the rights of patients and their families and also absolves doctors of any legal responsibility when following patients’ wishes.

Now Argentine families won’t have to struggle to find judges to order doctors to end life-support for people who are dying or in a permanent vegetative state. Getting such approval can be very difficult in many countries, particularly in Latin America, where opposition from the Roman Catholic Church still runs strong.

The law applies to the terminally ill as well as patients suffering irreversible and incurable illness or injury, declaring their right to refuse surgical procedures, hydration and nutrition, reanimation and life-support systems. Rather than seek a court order, all they need to do is prepare an advanced healthcare directive and sign it before a notary, with two witnesses.

The ethical challenges surrounding end-of-life issues become more difficult when the patient can no longer speak for himself and has not prepared such a formal document. In these cases, the Argentine law empowers family members or legal representatives to make the decision on the patients’ behalf.

Some politicians alleged that withdrawing nutrition and hydration could cause pain to a dying person, but medical and bioethical experts say otherwise – that an abundance of scientific evidence shows that dying people naturally stop eating and drinking for a reason – their bodies are shutting down — and that force-feeding them at that point actually causes pain. In contrast, without food and drink, the metabolism produces substances that actually produce feelings of euphoria.

In essence, Argentina is giving back what has been taken away from patients for many decades – self-determination. One can understand that passing euthanasia laws is a very difficult thing to do, many do not feel comfortable with it. But this is different, this is giving patients the right to give up when they want to in terms of terminal illness. One has to have experienced the death of a loved one from cancer or any other disease to understand. There comes a time when a doctor tells the patient that it is all over, there is nothing more that can be done other than offer palliative care. The patient will often have one last surge and will try to fight on a little bit more, but then you see it. First the mind gives up, then the body follows suit. There comes a time when every patient, no matter how brave, gives up the fight against a terminal disease. If that patient wishes to refuse treatment such as feeding through a tube, they should have every right to do so.

They should be allowed to go with dignity and through their own choice. They can no longer bathe or feed themselves, the least that society can do is allow them to make that so final of decisions for themselves. They deserve that right.