Euthanasia came into effect in Spain last Friday, following its “disastrous” legalisation last March.
On 24 June, Spain joined countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, becoming the latest nation to decriminalise euthanasia.
Spain’s euthanasia law, approved on 18 March this year, allows people with “serious and incurable” diseases, or conditions that are “chronic or incapacitating” and causing “intolerable suffering”, to have the right to assisted death.
In 2019, Spanish people voted in favour of decriminalising euthanasia. The Spanish Bishops’ Conference decried the move to legalise euthanasia at the time, stating that: “Human life is not a good anyone can dispose of.”
Despite protests and loud pro-life voices being raised against the bill, Spanish politicians passed the legislation.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “The legalisation of euthanasia in countries such as Spain marks a deadly trend that cheapens human life and increasingly turns to death as a substitute for care, compassion and love.
“Currently, Scotland is considering a highly inappropriate and dangerous assisted dying bill, which SPUC is resisting with the help of dedicated supporters.
“As we have seen around the world, wherever euthanasia is introduced, deaths surge year on year, as in the case of Canada, where assisted deaths rose by 17% in 2020.
“Last year, too, the chairman of a Dutch euthanasia clinic admitted that he expects the number of people killed by euthanasia in the Netherlands to double within the next eight years.
“We can expect to see the same terrible trend in Spain.
“Whatever other nations decide, SPUC continues to fight in the UK to ensure that we oppose every move to legalise euthanasia.”
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