The shouting coming from the benches occupied by the right and far right in the Congress of Deputies is so deafening that it is not surprising that some people do not know that on March 18 the law decriminalizing and regulating euthanasia in Spain was approved. With a large majority of 198 votes in favor, the coalition government has carried out one of the great promises acquired by Pedro Sánchez and the PSOE during the electoral campaign.
So much noise only seeks to confuse and divert the attention of citizens so that the powerful legislative agenda that the Government is deploying goes unnoticed, guaranteeing rights and promoting social progress. The Organic Law regulating euthanasia, presented by the Socialist Parliamentary Group, goes in that direction, since it offers a legal, systematic and balanced response to a sustained demand from today's society.
For me it is a pride to have supported with my vote that Spain has become the fourth country in Europe and the seventh in the world that allows ending life with the intervention of a health professional in case of incurable, serious, chronic and disabling disease. So we already have a new right, which consists of intentionally claiming death when suffering from an incurable disease to avoid suffering for oneself and loved ones.
But, as it cannot be otherwise, the procedure is very guarantor, so it can only be provided to adults, in full condition, who have a serious illness or intolerable suffering and who have expressed their will to die. However, the decision may be revoked at any time by the patient.
The explanatory memorandum of the initiative made it clear that the legalization and regulation of euthanasia are based on the compatibility of essential principles that are the foundation of people's rights, and that are included in the Spanish Constitution. These are, on the one hand, the fundamental rights to life and to physical and moral integrity, and on the other, constitutionally protected assets such as dignity, freedom or autonomy of will.
Euthanasia etymologically means sweet death or good death. I think we should start using these meanings normally because they express much better the profoundly human act of giving a person a dignified death, with their express consent, to save them suffering. Many of us are convinced that our country is a little better for having incorporated the right to life as an exercise of freedom that includes the right to one's own death.
Ariagona González, national deputy of the PSOE and Minister of Industry and Energy of the Cabildo de Lanzarote.
