Requests for euthanasia in Spain continue to grow in the third year of implementation of the law. 766 people asked for help to die in 2023. This is 24.8% more than in 2022. Of them, 334 received a positive response, according to data published this Thursday by the Ministry of Health, 14% more than a year before.
He annual evaluation report It reflects, however, that the right is recognized too late for a quarter of the applicants, who died without their petition being resolved. The average time spent in the process is 67 days, more than two months, “when it should not take more than 35,” according to the Right to Die with Dignity Association. However, it would be inevitable, according to Health data, that it would arrive on time in all cases because the average time for deaths before the request is resolved is 30 days.
Since the law was approved, three and a half years ago, the number of requests has risen to 1,515, of which 697 were accepted. 2023 has been the year in which the most demands for this right have been attended to after the 576 recorded in 2022 and 173 in 2021. In this last figure, only half of the year was considered because the standard was approved in June.
Only 3% change their mind
The most common profile is that of an applicant between 70 and 79 years old (28%) with oncological (35%) and neurological (35%)-based diseases, according to the Health report. Most people, 95%, had the capacity to ask for help in dying when the procedures began, although 15% were at imminent risk of losing it. The revocations in the process – the patient’s changes of mind – are minimal: just 3%.
By community, there are some disparities both in the number of applications – also conditioned by the population of each region – and in how many are accepted. Catalonia occupies first place with 219 requests; Behind, but far away, is the Community of Madrid (89), the Canary Islands (62) and Euskadi (58). The territories that register the fewest applications are Aragón (22), Cantabria (19), La Rioja (4), Extremadura (2), Murcia (2). In Ceuta and Melilla there were no requests in 2023, according to official Health data.
Although Madrid starts many processes, only 39% end positively. This reduced proportion also occurs in Castilla-La Mancha and the Balearic Islands (32%). However, the lowest percentage, by far, occurs in Cantabria: the right is only recognized for 16% of the people who request it. The average for all communities is 44%.
The limits of the law
The process included in the law is very guaranteeing: to start it, an initial assessment by a responsible doctor, a second doctor specializing in the patient’s condition, without relation to him or the first professional, and the approval of the CGE is necessary. , made up of healthcare professionals and lawyers from each autonomous community. The law establishes that, if any of the health workers is a conscientious objector, they must send the request to their bosses so that they can find another doctor.
In recent months, the justice system has intervened following requests from relatives in processes that had already passed all the medical filters provided for by law, opening a debate about who is entitled to decide, beyond the patient, on these requests. A case in Barcelona, of a 23-year-old girl, has also brought to the table the limits of the norm when mental illness comes into play as the cause of suffering.
#Spain #recognized #euthanasia #people #year
