A total of 370 people died by euthanasia in Spain in the first 18 months the country’s euthanasia law was enacted — and officials are promising that the number will rise in the future.
The data, collected by the group Right to Die with Dignity (DMD), calculated the number of euthanasia deaths between June 2021 and December 2022. Two spokesmen for the group, Fernando Sanz and Fernando Marín, held a press conference to unveil their report, titled, “Two years of the euthanasia law: much room for improvement,” and detail what they say will be more euthanasia deaths in the future as the practice becomes “normalized.”
“The number of people will grow because this option of dying will become normalized,” said Sanz. “We have to get used to the idea that it is possible to choose the moment to die under certain circumstances. The important thing is that we have the right. It doesn’t matter so much how much. It will always be a minority way of dying. The law itself defines it as exceptional.”
One alarming statistic from the report was that less than half of the people who accessed euthanasia were terminally ill. Instead, the majority of cases were people suffering from neurogenerative diseases, like ALS or multiple sclerosis.
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DMD’s report lamented several factors that are delaying people from receiving euthanasia, including “lack of commitment from private healthcare.”
“There have been people waiting for a solution for six months and he has not told them anything due to the disorganization of private health,” explained Marín.
They also complained that conscientious objection laws slow people from receiving euthanasia. “We are aware of cases of doctors who refused to do so, as well as excessive deadlines to designate an alternative professional,” they said.
Additionally, the report noted a disparity between various regions in the country, with some areas accounting for much higher rates of euthanasia than others. They hope to close the gap in the future.
“There are people who apply for it and die during the procedure without completing the requirements of the law. It is essential to know, to determine whether there is a lack of accessibility to this right,” said Marín.
The spokesmen promised that as the euthanasia process becomes more streamlined, more people will be able to end their own lives.
“It is to be expected that the number will grow in the coming years, as this right is consolidated among citizens and the response of the health services improves,” they said.
