Some 180 people died in Spain with the help or supervision of health professionals in the first year of the euthanasia law, a figure lower than expected, according to the president of the Federal Association Right to Die With Dignity (DMD Spain).
The figure of 180 people was revealed by the Spanish Government on June 24, the day that marked one year after the entry into force of the law on assisted medical death in Spain.
The application of the law depends on the regional governments and not all have given data and the same data this year and a half, the president of DMD Spain, Javier Velasco, told Lusa.
The association, founded 38 years ago, estimates that between 180 and 200 people have died by euthanasia or assisted suicide, according to the law, so far, a figure lower than expected.
Javier Velasco says that there are still “many people who don’t know the law”, which was approved and is in force.
Regarding what is known about the cases in which it was applied, Javier Velasco highlighted that there is a higher percentage of degenerative diseases compared to oncological ones, contrary to what happens in Belgium or the Netherlands, which have legislation in force for a long time. more time.
The president of DMD Spain gives an explanation, which highlights that it is only hypothetical, since there is little information: most of the people who had been waiting for years for the law to come into force had degenerative diseases, with “a life expectancy of years “. “In many cases, and as soon as the possibility of agreeing to euthanasia was created, he advanced.
Javier Velasco said that we had to “wait and see if the percentage goes down in the coming years and coincides with the Netherlands and Belgium.”
According to official data released in June, of the 180 people sacrificed in Spain (a country of around 47 million inhabitants), 22 donated their organs, with which 68 transplants were performed.
It is a significant number of donations, with a higher percentage than in other countries, Javier Velasco said, stating that, in this case, it was already to be expected, since Spain is one of the countries in the world where there are more organ donations and transplants
Another aspect that the president of DMD Spain has highlighted is the increase in the number of people in Spain who are making “living wills” including requests for euthanasia.
A living will is a legal document in which a person records their will regarding medical treatment in the event that they lose consciousness or lose their reason and, in the case of Spain, also allows a request for euthanasia to be registered in these circumstances. .
Spain was, in June 2021, the fourth European country to decriminalize euthanasia, after the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
In Portugal, the Assembly of the Republic approved last week, for the third time, a law for the decriminalization of euthanasia (very similar to the one in force in Spain), after the previous two had had presidential vetoes.
Spanish legislation allows euthanasia (death of the patient, by his will, through the administration of substances by health professionals) and assisted suicide (when the person ingests the substances by himself).
Those of legal age who suffer from a serious and incurable illness or a serious, chronic and impossible state, which causes them “intolerable physical or mental suffering” with no possibility of cure or improvement, may request medical help to die, a benefit that will be included in the National Insurance Spanish Health System.
The patient must confirm his wish to die on at least four occasions throughout the process, which can take a little over a month from the first request, and he can withdraw or postpone euthanasia at any time.
The law also provides for the right of doctors to conscientious objection and establishes the creation of a Guarantee and Evaluation Commission in each Spanish autonomous community made up of doctors and lawyers to monitor each case.
According to the official data known in June – and which are the only ones released so far – it was in the region of Catalonia where there were more requests for euthanasia in the first year, 137, and 60 completed the process on June 24.
Source: TSF
