Woman leads fight for euthanasia in Mexico

Samara Martinez, a young Mexican woman who is sick and dying, smiles as she asks her many TikTok followers a difficult question.

- Agence France-Presse

The 30-year-old lives with several chronic and degenerative diseases, including kidney failure, and spends 10 hours a day hooked up to a dialysis machine to survive. “Instead of seeking euthanasia, why don’t I just unplug the machine and say goodbye?” Martinez, a journalist by trade, says in her video. She then explains to her nearly 400,000 followers what it is like to suffer from several terminal diseases — and why she is spearheading a campaign to legalize a person's right to euthanasia in Mexico.

As she prepares to answer her initial question, the camera zooms in on Martinez’s face for a closeup. “Because I do not want to suffer and I want to die with dignity,” she says. A paradox is at work here: as she advocates for such a gravely serious issue as death, Martinez does so with vigor, enthusiasm and creativity over social media.