March 23, 2025

Spanish Precedent as 24-Year Old with Paraplegia Allowed to Die

Ramon Sampedro would have been delighted.

It has been reported this week that a judge in Barcelona, has authorised the euthanasia of a 24-year-old woman with paraplegia.

The woman became a paraplegic in November 2022 after a failed suicide attempt when she suffered serious injuries to her spine.

Her request for an assisted death was originally approved by Catalonia’s Guarantee and Evaluation Commission however her father blocked her attempt to get help to die.

A radical Christian, he argued that his daughter was under pressure or that she did not have the mental capacity to make such a decision.

The Judge, however, disagreed and ruled that the woman ‘Noelia’ met all the qualifying criteria.

During the recent court hearing, no less than seven medical experts, included psychiatrists and neurologists testified that her decision to seek help to die was conscious and well considered.

Interestingly, the Court emphasised that a patient’s right to self-determination is central to end of life laws in Spain.

The ruling sets an important precedent in Spain as the woman was disabled vis a vis terminally ill.

The case is also important in that it emphasises the importance that a Court will place on individual autonomy and the right to choose.