Spain: Fifth in Europe to Sanction Euthanasia

He put a fine point on the missing frame of reference implicit in the Faith:

Valuing the dignity of all human life, of the healthy and the sick, was a real advance that Christianity introduced. Therefore, what is now proffered as progress is really a great setback: The fruit of individualism that undermines solidarity and an erroneous idea about liberty, which is understood as the mere ability to make decisions with no reference to true and the good.

In Sept. 2019, Spanish bishops issued a statement condemning any effort to allow assisted suicide or killing, titled "There are no sick beyond care, even if they are incurable." Changing the law on the practice, they wrote: "It is bad news because human life is not a good that can be thrown away." In addition, more than 100 well-respected academics and civic leaders signed an appeal to Congress to reject the euthanasia bill.

Who Is Affected

So far, the new law does not contemplate children or persons suffering mental illness.

"These are difficult cases that often affect young people and put up for discussion the debate over what society should do with people with grave mental problems," said Fernando Marín of Derecho a Morir Dignamente (Right to Die with Dignity) of Spain.

He applauded the new law and said that it is more restrictive than laws in other European countries. The law addresses two groups of persons who may request assisted suicide or euthanasia. The first group, Marín said, comprises persons with terminal illness: "Persons with limited life expectancy, such as many cancer patients." The second consists of those with chronic conditions or illness, such as "[q]uadriplegics, people with serious stroke aftereffects or even dementia ... for whom their condition affects their ability to dress, wash themselves, walk and so on."

Opponents of euthanasia and assisted suicide fear that governments are seeking to expand the practice. In British Columbia, for example, a judge recently ruled that despite a wife's appeal, a doctor could not be prevented from killing her husband. That governments have a vested interest in sanctioning homicide was made evident in a report by Canada's parliamentary budget officer, who recently calculated that the government has thereby saved millions of dollars and will save millions more by expanding the practice.

The Palliative Alternative

In contrast to the pro-death trend, pro-life Goya Productions has released a documentary about Laguna Hospital care center, which cares for patients suffering conditions that are likely to lead to death within months. The Spanish video production firm interviewed caretakers and family members of patients, revealing Laguna's focus on palliative care, controlling pain and giving hope. A patient's husband is seen in the video saying, "It has been 10 very special months of my life and impossible to forget. Every day here is a new day. It is the promise of life."

Titled To Die in Peace: Palliative Care vs. Euthanasia, the video opens with a narrator who says, "In the last stretch of our lives, no one wants to suffer or be afraid but to be instead accompanied and treated with kindness — to be at peace and to have our last wishes made real. Is that a utopia or something like that? It does exist, but for most people it is an unknown world. It is the world of palliative care and entering into it can be a surprise."

Bearing the message "1 + 1 = Infinity" written on her bonnet, nurse Encarna Perez said of her work:

I gave him [a patient] a kiss. And his daughter turned and said, "Do they give kisses in this hospital?" I answered, "Yes, of course, it's what this man needs." He is in a strange place, feeling bad and terrified, and he finds a positive acceptance. It is logical that he will find it easier to say what is going on with him because he is in an accepting and loving environment."

She added that palliative care gives patients time to bid farewell to loved ones and say things that they needed to say. According to the video, patients at Laguna are attended by a Catholic chaplain, doctors, pain specialists, psychologists and other caregivers.