Spain’s PM hails ‘humane, fairer, freer’ nation as euthanasia, assisted suicide is legalised
- The law makes Spain the fourth European nation to decriminalise assisted suicide, alongside the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg
- The move is being celebrated by patients and right-to-die campaigners, but slammed by the Catholic Church and Spain’s right and far-right opposition
Spain’s parliament on Thursday voted through a law legalising euthanasia, becoming one of the few nations to allow terminally-ill or gravely-injured patients to end their own suffering.
A priority for Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government, the law was drafted following public pressure generated by several high-profile cases, notably that of Ramon Sampedro whose plight was immortalised in the Oscar-winning 2004 film The Sea Inside.
The vote, which passed by 202 in favour and 141 against and two abstentions in the 350-seat chamber, makes Spain the fourth European nation to decriminalise assisted suicide, alongside the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Although Portugal’s parliament passed a similar law in January, it was blocked this week by the Constitutional Court.
“Today we have become a country that is more humane, fairer and freer. The euthanasia law, widely demanded by society, has finally become a reality,” Sanchez tweeted just minutes after the vote. “Thanks to all the people who have fought tirelessly for the right to die with dignity to be recognised in Spain.”
The Spanish legislation will permit euthanasia in which medical staff intentionally end a life to relieve suffering, and assisted suicide in which it is the patient who carries out the procedure.
Various other countries permit assisted suicide as well as “passive euthanasia” in which life-saving medical treatment is halted.