PSOE re-introduces euthanasia law in Congress

Euthanasia activists, family members of terminally ill outside Congress, June 2019. Photo: David Castro / El Periódico
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Spain’s Socialist party has re-introduced legislation in Congress to legalize euthanasia, with the government’s new Health Minister Salvador Illa saying he anticipates the right-to-die legislation will receive congressional approval because of what he called “widespread support” in Spanish society for euthanasia.

“It seems to me that there is a broad majority in favor of legislation that offers guarantees to those who, for a variety of reasons, may choose to anticipate their death,” Illa said Monday in a radio interview broadcast by Cadena Ser.

► News Sources: El Periódico, El Independiente and ConSalud.es …

The re-introduction of the euthanasia legislation by the PSOE marks the third time the party has floated a right-to-die law in Congress since 2018. The two previous attempts at passing the legislation foundered when the government of President Pedro Sanchez could not get enough votes in Congress to support its federal budget proposals, bringing the legislative sessions to an early end.

► Click to read PDF [in Spanish] of PSOE’s proposed euthanasia legislation …

Activist groups supporting terminally ill patients seeking the right to end their own lives are calling for the euthanasia legislation to be the first item approved by the new Congress after it convenes on 3rd February, gathering nearly 300,000 signatures through a petition at Change.org in support of their request.

Last year, more than a million signatures were delivered to Congress by activist groups in July, calling on Spain’s political parties to put aside their differences and come together to decriminalize euthanasia in Spain.

► Click to read more news about Euthanasia in Spain …

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