MADRID (AP) – Lawmakers on Thursday voted to make Spain the sixth country in the world, and the fourth in Europe, to allow doctors-assisted suicide and euthanasia for long-term patients with incurable diseases and for people with unbearable permanent conditions.
The Spanish Parliament’s Second Chamber voted 202-140 with two abstentions on the final adoption of the euthanasia bill. Legislators from the left-wing governing coalition and other parties supported this, while conservative and far-right legislators voted “no” and promised to overthrow the legislation in the future.
Health Minister Carolina Darias praised the adoption of the bill as an important step ‘towards the recognition of human rights’.
“We are moving towards a more humane and just society,” she told the House of Representatives.
The bill was the result of a long legislative journey that began three years ago and has undergone several rounds of review in parliamentary committees and in the Senate. It is expected to take effect in mid-June, when Spain’s public health system will have to provide lifelong assistance in justified cases.
Euthanasia – when a doctor administers fatal medication directly to a patient – is legal or approved by the courts in Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Colombia and the Netherlands. In Switzerland and some US states, medical suicide has been allowed – when patients administer lethal drugs under medical supervision themselves.
Politicians in Portugal have tried to pass a law similar to Spain’s neighboring country, but the country’s constitutional court this week blocked the legislation, arguing that the bill was inaccurate in enforcing the conditions under which lifelong proceedings could take place. Identify.
Under the new Spanish law, the process of getting patients to die for approval can take more than a month, with two written requests followed by consultations with medical professionals who were not previously involved in the case. Only after a fourth and final statement where patients repeat their desire to die can a local committee of experts make the final decision.
The law enables medical workers in the public or private system to refuse to participate on the basis of faith.
Protesters, as well as against the new law, gathered outside Madrid’s low-rise building while lawmakers voted.
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This story has been corrected to reflect that Spain is the sixth country in the world, and not seventh as previously reported, making euthanasia possible.