The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a request for a suspension submitted by the father.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has rejected a request for a provisional suspension of euthanasia for a young Spanish woman with paraplegia, who has been waiting for 20 months to receive assisted death. Her father, supported by the ultra-conservative association Abogados Cristianos, opposes the procedure. The court rejected the request for provisional measures filed by the association, according to judicial sources cited by Cadena Ser.
The 25-year-old woman, who is being treated in a socio-health facility in Catalonia, became paraplegic after attempting suicide in 2022 by jumping from the fifth floor of a building. She had requested assisted death. Her father opposed the request, despite the fact that the young woman had been in a state of abandonment for years, arguing that his daughter was incapable of making a decision due to mental health issues. Just before the scheduled date for the euthanasia, August 2, 2024, the courts had granted an urgent appeal filed by the father to suspend the procedure.
Since then, the woman has been embroiled in a lengthy legal battle, initiated by the ultra-Catholic association, which culminated in the Spanish courts with a ruling by the Constitutional Court on February 22. The court unanimously upheld a previous ruling by the same high court and a previous ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice of Catalonia, which stated that the request for assisted death had been authorized in full compliance with the Spanish law on euthanasia, which has been in effect since 2021. The court also found that the alleged violation of a fundamental right claimed by the father was "manifestly unfounded."
Spanish law allows for assisted dying for adult applicants who are capable of understanding and expressing their will and who suffer from a "serious and incurable illness" or from "chronic or debilitating suffering" under certain conditions.
The ECHR's refusal to provisionally suspend the euthanasia does not yet rule on the merits of the case, but it marks a decisive step towards the execution of the patient's will. The Catalan government has already reactivated the procedure and appointed the doctor who will perform the assisted death on the date chosen by the young woman.
According to health sources, the woman receives daily subcutaneous sedation to alleviate neuropathic pain, while her father and Abogados Cristianos continue to file appeals and requests for psychological evaluations, which doctors consider completely unnecessary, after numerous psychological and medical-legal assessments to which the patient has been subjected.
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