{"id":303454,"date":"2023-12-14T06:41:59","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T12:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=303454"},"modified":"2023-12-13T15:17:10","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T21:17:10","slug":"woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman wants Ecuador to decriminalize assisted death for people with ALS"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>In 2014, the popularity of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge went viral, with social media users posting videos left and right to spread awareness of the disease. Many people, however, may not have been familiar with ALS itself.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord connection to the muscles of the body. This eventually leads to loss of motor function, speech impairment\/loss, paralysis, and eventually loss of breath control. While there is no known cure, there are a growing number of medications that can be used to slow the disease and support the lifestyles of those with ALS. But instead of reaching out with more support for the families dealing with this and other debilitating diagnoses, Ecuador is considering decriminalizing assisted dying for people with ALS.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This p0litical debate was brought on by a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/256119\/5-things-to-know-about-the-debate-on-euthanasia-in-ecuador\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lawsuit<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> filed on November 20, 2023, by Paola Rold\u00e1n, a 42-year-old Ecuadorian woman who has been battling ALS for the past three years. She is seeking to declare article 144 of the Comprehensive Penal Code as unconstitutional; this would decriminalize the act of helping someone to commit suicide. The current penalty for such an act is up to 13 years in prison. In her lawyer\u2019s words, \u201cPaola needs legal authorization to have a mercy killing, because if someone assists her in the death, he could face a sentence of up to 13 years.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDeath with dignity\u201d is the phrasing used to further Rold\u00e1n\u2019s argument.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ: <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/study-assisted-suicide-painful-inhumane\/\"><em>Study: Assisted suicide can be painful, prolonged and inhumane<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, another Ecuadorian citizen living with ALS <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/256213\/ecuadoran-with-incurable-illness-only-god-has-authority-over-death\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">disagrees<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Silvio Alvarado, a 38-year-old father and husband living with ALS, believes that there is still value in his life even though there is suffering. A large part of his perspective stems from his faith in Jesus Christ. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThanks to the fact that I have received visits at my house from good friends who helped me clear up the doubts that were arising in my heart and by attending my church on Sundays, I was able to know Christ\u2026 so He understands me, because He knows the affliction of my heart and also the physical suffering I feel.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alvarado lives with his wife, Paulina O\u00f1a, and their twin children, Nina and Inti. \u201cThe suffering and everything we have experienced these three years have allowed us to get closer to God, and we have been able to see Christ as our only hope, since he conquered the world, sin, and death,\u201d O\u00f1a said. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At this time, Alvarado has lost the ability to speak and move, and uses technology and winking signals to communicate. Yet, he remains at peace, thanks to the loving support of his family and the example of Christ\u2019s suffering and resurrection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ecuador \u2014 unlike the U.S. \u2014 does not have the abundant resources to effectively support people with ALS. Alvarado encourages \u201ca policy of prevention that would set aside [funds] for the states to allocate resources for the treatment of diseases,\u201d and more research into the cause of ALS. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ALS Association, based in the U.S., boasts an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.als.org\/navigating-als\/living-with-als\/daily-living-activities\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">entire resource list<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of ways that those with ALS can receive in-person emotional and physical support, everyday life adjustments, as well as medical treatments. \u201cPeople do not have to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.als.org\/navigating-als\/resources\/fyi-reasons-living-als\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">suffer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> stoically the disabling feelings associated with depression, anxiety or the other understandable feelings patients may experience,\u201d the Association writes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> There is always hope, even in the face of uncertainty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/walgreens-cvs-petition\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-283198\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Keep-Abortion-Pill-Out-Of-Walgreens-CVSLAN-Horizontal--700x180.jpg\" alt=\"Walgreens CVS banner\" width=\"700\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Keep-Abortion-Pill-Out-Of-Walgreens-CVSLAN-Horizontal--700x180.jpg 700w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Keep-Abortion-Pill-Out-Of-Walgreens-CVSLAN-Horizontal--300x77.jpg 300w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Keep-Abortion-Pill-Out-Of-Walgreens-CVSLAN-Horizontal--768x197.jpg 768w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Keep-Abortion-Pill-Out-Of-Walgreens-CVSLAN-Horizontal--500x128.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2014, the popularity of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge went viral, with social media users posting videos left and right to spread awareness of the disease. Many people, however, may not have been familiar with ALS itself. ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord connection to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":670,"featured_media":172517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[4,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Woman wants Ecuador to decriminalize assisted death for people with ALS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Instead of supporting families dealing with ALS and other debilitating diagnoses, Ecuador may decriminalize assisted death for them.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Woman wants Ecuador to decriminalize assisted death for people with ALS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Instead of supporting families dealing with ALS and other debilitating diagnoses, Ecuador may decriminalize assisted death for them.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-14T12:41:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-13T21:17:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/wheelchair-disability-700x350.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elle Kay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elle Kay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elle Kay\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fd0ca8d8014043af8f4be5e89ef092d9\"},\"headline\":\"Woman wants Ecuador to decriminalize assisted death for people with ALS\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-14T12:41:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-13T21:17:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/\"},\"wordCount\":586,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Issues\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/\",\"name\":\"Woman wants Ecuador to decriminalize assisted death for people with ALS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-14T12:41:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-13T21:17:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"Instead of supporting families dealing with ALS and other debilitating diagnoses, Ecuador may decriminalize assisted death for them.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Woman wants Ecuador to decriminalize assisted death for people with ALS\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fd0ca8d8014043af8f4be5e89ef092d9\",\"name\":\"Elle Kay\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/502aecad32fd46010ea074a15afce7b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/502aecad32fd46010ea074a15afce7b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elle Kay\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/elle-kay\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Woman wants Ecuador to decriminalize assisted death for people with ALS","description":"Instead of supporting families dealing with ALS and other debilitating diagnoses, Ecuador may decriminalize assisted death for them.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Woman wants Ecuador to decriminalize assisted death for people with ALS","og_description":"Instead of supporting families dealing with ALS and other debilitating diagnoses, Ecuador may decriminalize assisted death for them.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2023-12-14T12:41:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-12-13T21:17:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/wheelchair-disability-700x350.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elle Kay","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elle Kay","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/"},"author":{"name":"Elle Kay","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fd0ca8d8014043af8f4be5e89ef092d9"},"headline":"Woman wants Ecuador to decriminalize assisted death for people with ALS","datePublished":"2023-12-14T12:41:59+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-13T21:17:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/"},"wordCount":586,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Issues","Newsbreak"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/","name":"Woman wants Ecuador to decriminalize assisted death for people with ALS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-12-14T12:41:59+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-13T21:17:10+00:00","description":"Instead of supporting families dealing with ALS and other debilitating diagnoses, Ecuador may decriminalize assisted death for them.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-ecuador-decriminalize-assisted-death-als\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Woman wants Ecuador to decriminalize assisted death for people with ALS"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fd0ca8d8014043af8f4be5e89ef092d9","name":"Elle Kay","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/502aecad32fd46010ea074a15afce7b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/502aecad32fd46010ea074a15afce7b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elle Kay"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/elle-kay\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303454"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/670"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303454"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":303475,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303454\/revisions\/303475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}