Spanish court rules against father fighting to stop daughter’s ‘voluntary euthanasia’

A Spanish court has rejected the appeal of a father who was fighting to halt his 23-year-old daughter’s death by voluntary euthanasia.

The young woman, Noelia C, reportedly has severe mental illness and is a paraplegic following a previous failed suicide attempt. It was due to this disability that she sought euthanasia against her father’s wishes. Last year, she was given approval to die, only to have a judge intervene at the last minute at her father’s request, and halt the proceedings temporarily. Now, a Barcelona court has ruled that her death may proceed.

“All the professionals who have intervened in the process agree that… she suffers a serious, chronic and disabling illness, without any contradictory tests having been performed,” the judge in the case wrote, adding that the woman’s “most personal” of rights was “proven,” and that her father cannot intervene on the matter.

The BBC notes, “Euthanasia is the act of deliberately ending a person’s life to relieve suffering. It can be involuntary – for example, if a person is in a coma and unable to give their consent – or voluntary, as in this case.”

Notably, the woman’s disability stems directly from a 2022 attempt to kill herself by jumping from a five-story building. Such an action would infer that she needs mental health support and treatment. Instead, officials in the country seem intent on reaffirming her suicide attempt by allowing her to die with the government’s stamp of approval.

READ: Former euthanasia advocate: Assisted suicide has become ‘a default way to die’

In fighting against his daughter’s death, the father told the court that she has changed her mind numerous times about euthanasia and that she is also responding well to rehabilitation treatment. He also cited “the obligation of the state to protect the lives of people, especially the most vulnerable, as is the case with a young person with mental health problems.”

Right to Die with Dignity, a pro-death group, praised the ruling, saying it “reaffirms the importance of respecting the will and independence of people in the final stage of their lives, without undue interference.”

Euthanasia in Spain has been legal since 2021, but this is the first time that a case has gone before a judge to decide.

The father’s lawyers, Abogados Cristianos, have indicated that they intend to appeal the decision to a higher court.