The Spanish Parliament has approved the first euthanasia law in the country on 17 December.
The rule, promoted by the Social Democrat government party, PSOE, received 198 votes in favour, 138 against and 2 abstentions. Spain becomes the fourth country in Europe and the sixth worldwide to legalise euthanasia, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada and New Zealand.
The law was approvedafter several attempts in which the Parliament voted against it. The government coalition of PSOE and leftist party Unidas Podemos, along with the deputies of liberal party Ciudadanos, leftist party Más País, Catalonian parties ERC, CUP and Junts per Catalunya, Basque parties PNV and EH Bildu, and Galician party BNG, all voted in favour.
The conservative parties PP and UPN and far-right Vox voted against it. Vox has announced that they will file an appeal of unconstitutionality against the text.
The law, which has yet to be approved by the Senate, although it is expected to do so, could come into force in the first months of 2021.
During the vote, dozens of people gathered outside the Parliament building to protest against the measure with posters that read: “Government of death”.
Defending the law presented by the government, the PSOE parlamentarian María Luisa Carcedo, pointed out that the text “absolutely guarantees the patient rights” and that it is “the patient who decides in a situation of extreme suffering”.
PP deputy José Ignacio Echániz responded that “without universal access to palliative care there is no choice, no freedom because the only option offered to patients is euthanasia”. “The level of civilisation and maturity of a country is measured by how it treats the most vulnerable”, he added.