Spain became the fourth European country to decriminalize it euthanasia, after the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Euthanasia legislation came into force today, making the country one of the few to allow terminally ill patients to end their lives.
The bill was a priority of the government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and was adopted by parliament in March.
The law allows euthanasia – when a therapist causes the death of a patient – as well as medically assisted suicide, when the patient receives a dose of a drug prescribed for him to die.
He predicts that anyone “suffering from a serious and incurable disease” or having “chronic pain that renders him incapacitated” can seek the help of a doctor to die and thus avoid “unbearable pain”.
Euthanasia: The strict terms
The law also contains strict terms: the person, Spaniard or resident Spain, must be “fully conscious” when making the decision to die, while his request must be made in writing “without external pressure” and repeated 15 days later.
The doctor may reject the request if he / she assesses that the criteria are not met or that the patient is not fully conscious. Moreover, the request should be approved by a second doctor and receive the green light from a committee, according to APE-MPE, citing AFP.
The law divides public opinion in Spain and has provoked opposition from right-wing and Catholic parties. The People’s Party, the main opposition party, filed a lawsuit against the law in the Constitutional Court yesterday, Thursday.
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