DOI: https://doi.org/10.71112/b22qye87
1025 Revista Multidisciplinar Epistemología de las Ciencias | Vol. 3, Núm. 3, 2026, julio-septiembre
ABSTRACT
Advance directives constitute a legal, bioethical, and public health instrument designed to
safeguard personal autonomy, human dignity, and informed consent in end-of-life decision-
making. Their development has been driven by scientific and technological advances that have
enabled the prolongation of life through increasingly sophisticated life-sustaining treatments,
giving rise to ethical and legal challenges associated with medically futile or disproportionate
interventions that may result in therapeutic obstinacy. Although many countries have
incorporated advance care planning mechanisms into their legal frameworks, international
evidence indicates that only 20% to 40% of eligible individuals complete an advance directive.
In Mexico, despite the progressive legal recognition of this right and the registration of more
than 10,000 advance directives in the states where such legislation exists, their utilization
remains limited and significant barriers continue to hinder their effective implementation.
This article aims to analyze the barriers that limit the exercise of the right to advance directives
in the state of Sonora from the perspectives of human rights, bioethics, and public health. A
qualitative, legal-doctrinal study was conducted through documentary analysis of the Political
Constitution of the United Mexican States, the General Health Law, the Advance Directives Law
of the State of Sonora, international human rights instruments, specialized bioethics literature,
and institutional documents addressing end-of-life care.
The findings reveal that, despite the existence of a legal framework recognizing this right,
multiple legal, institutional, educational, cultural, and bioethical barriers continue to restrict its
effective implementation. These barriers include limited public awareness, insufficient training of
healthcare professionals, inadequate institutional dissemination, the absence of standardized
clinical protocols, and the persistence of paternalistic models of healthcare delivery.
Furthermore, the lack of publicly available statistical data on the implementation of advance