Spanish Supreme Court Dismisses Father's Appeal to Block Daughter's Euthanasia

Paralyzed Woman in Her Twenties Seeks Euthanasia
Father Vows to Appeal to Constitutional Court

A Spanish father's attempt to prevent his paralyzed daughter in her twenties from undergoing euthanasia, a decision she made herself, has been blocked by a Supreme Court ruling.

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According to AFP on January 29 (local time), the Spanish Supreme Court dismissed the appeal filed by the father, Mr. B, against a lower court ruling that denied his request to halt the euthanasia of his daughter, Ms. A, who is in her twenties. The Supreme Court stated that "the appellant failed to refute that all requirements necessary to approve the applicant's euthanasia had been met," and also rejected the father's claim of procedural flaws.

Previously, Ms. A, a Spanish woman, became paralyzed from the waist down after attempting suicide by jumping from the fifth floor of a building in 2022. In April 2024, she officially requested the court to grant her the right to die. In July of the same year, the euthanasia committee in northeastern Catalonia approved Ms. A's request. As a result, Ms. A was scheduled to undergo euthanasia in August 2024, one month later.

In response, her father, Mr. B, filed a lawsuit, claiming that his daughter "suffers from a mental disorder that may affect her ability to make free and conscious decisions." He also argued that "there were signs she had changed her mind" and emphasized that "her condition does not involve unbearable physical or psychological suffering." Due to Mr. B's lawsuit, Ms. A's euthanasia procedure was halted at the last moment.

Abogados Cristianos, a conservative group representing the father's lawsuit, announced plans to appeal to the Constitutional Court, stating that the Supreme Court's decision "seriously infringes on the fundamental right to life and lacks effective legal oversight." The Constitutional Court can determine whether the father's rights were violated during the legal proceedings.

Regarding the ruling, AFP explained that it remains unclear whether the first-instance court will permit the daughter's euthanasia, which had been temporarily suspended during the lawsuit, or wait for the Constitutional Court's judgment.

Meanwhile, in Spain, a law permitting "active euthanasia" (administration of lethal drugs) and "assisted suicide" (patients self-administering prescribed medication) took effect in June 2021. Spain thus became the fourth EU country, after the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, to legalize euthanasia.