(MENAFN- Live Mint) Uruguay's senate passed a law decriminalizing euthanasia on Wednesday, putting the South American nation among a handful of other countries where seriously ill patients can legally obtain help to end their lives.

It makes Uruguay the first country in predominantly Catholic Latin America to allow euthanasia via legislation. Colombia and Ecuador have decriminalised the practice through Supreme Court decisions.

In Chile, left-wing President Gabriel Boric recently revived a push for the approval of an euthanasia bill long stalled in the Senate. Fierce debates and spirited activism around the practice has gripped the region in recent years.

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The law, which moved forward in fits and starts over the last five years, cleared its final hurdle on Wednesday as 20 out of 31 senators voted in favor.

The lower house approved the bill in August with a large majority.

Most opposition to euthanasia in Uruguay came from the Catholic Church. But secularization has eroded resistance to the practice in this country of 3.5 million people, which bans any mention of God in oaths of office and calls Christmas“Family Day.”

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The law's passage cements Uruguay's reputation as among the most socially liberal in the region. The country was first in the world to legalize marijuana for recreational use and passed pioneering legislation allowing same-sex marriage and abortion over a decade ago.

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