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Spain’s Parliament has voted to approve a bill that will allow seriously ill people to choose to their end life, despite protests against euthanasia.
The bill, which was backed by Spain’s left-wing coalition government and several other parties, passed in a 198-138 vote.
The
conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox party voted against the measure.
It will allow medic-assisted suicide and euthanasia for long-suffering patients of incurable diseases or unbearable permanent conditions.
A small group of people gathered outside Madrid’s lower house of parliament waving black flags with skulls and crossbones to protest against the bill.
The bill will now continue its legislative journey, facing a vote in the Senate, where it is also expected to pass. It would make Spain the fourth country in the European Union to legalise euthanasia after Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The practice is also legal in Canada, Colombia and Switzerland.
What is Euthanasia? Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering. Different countries have different euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords select committee on medical ethics defines euthanasia as "a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending
a life, to relieve intractable suffering". In the Netherlands and Belgium, euthanasia is understood as "termination of life by a doctor at the request of a patient". The Dutch law, however, does not use the term 'euthanasia' but includes the concept under the broader definition of "assisted suicide and termination of life on request".
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