Mexico approves right-to-die law

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Mexico City - Mexican lawmakers approved a law to allow terminally ill patients the right to refuse treatment, legislators said on Wednesday.

The Senate on Tuesday approved the bill, already passed in the lower house in Congress, to allow patients "to die with dignity," Senator Lazaro Mazon said.

The law, which will come into effect in the coming months, will allow terminally ill patients with a life expectancy of less than six months to "refuse treatments that will prolong their suffering," said Mazon.

Mexico did not previously have laws allowing terminal patients to either refuse treatment or undergoing euthanasia - being assisted in dying.

So far, terminal patients have generally opted, where possible, to return home to die among their families.

Ethics committees will be set up in public hospitals with the new law to help patients and their relatives decide the appropriate course for them.