First trial to stop a dignified death: Noelia wants euthanasia, her family does not

BarcelonaThe right to a dignified death is in the hands of the courts for the first time. This Tuesday in Barcelona there was a trial unprecedented in the whole of Spain. The euthanasia of Noelia, a 24-year-old paraplegic girl, has the backing of the committee of experts that is in charge of evaluating the requests for this procedure, but it has been suspended since August 1 by court order. Her father, advised by the Christian Lawyers group, took his daughter's euthanasia to court three days before it was administered to her. The process has been paralyzed since then awaiting the final judicial decision. Before the judge, the young woman reiterated on Tuesday her desire to have a dignified death and denounced coercion from her environment to make her back out.

Specifically, legal sources consulted by the ARA point out that the young woman explained that some of her classmates at the juvenile center where she had been cared for from the age of 13 put religious pictures, crosses and symbols in her room. However, Noelia has reaffirmed during the trial her willingness to receive euthanasia, she has said that she has been asking for it for a long time and that she has never doubted, despite having encountered opposition from her family.

The young woman is admitted to a residential hospital in Sant Pere de Ribes as a result of a spinal cord injury, which leaves her completely paraplegia, caused by a suicide attempt in 2022. She has also had to testify in court, at the request of the prosecution and the opposition of the Generalitat, despite the opposition of the Generalitat. The hearing was held behind closed doors, a decision taken with the intention of protecting the young woman's privacy and which has also restricted the access of journalists.

A dozen witnesses also appeared in the 12th contentious court of Barcelona, mainly doctors from different specialties who have treated the young woman in recent years. They all supported the euthanasia of the young woman because it has been proven that she has the mental capacity to freely decide in this regard and meets the requirements set by law: constant physical and psychological suffering, expressed as intolerable and with no forecast of improvement.

Can the family intervene?

The fundamental debate that must be resolved with this case answers a question that was not foreseen with the euthanasia law of 2021: is the family of an adult person who has requested euthanasia entitled to prevent it in court?

After the hearing on Tuesday, the parties involved have five days to send their conclusions to the court, where they will position themselves on how they would like the sentence to resolve the case. In addition to Christian Lawyers and the Generalitat, it will also send its letter to the Prosecutor's Office, which has not yet ruled on the merits of the matter, although in August it was in favor of provisionally suspending euthanasia and waiting for the trial to avoid irreparable damage.

In November, In an identical case that was resolved in another court through an order, another court considered that a man was not entitled to intervene in response to his son's request for euthanasia. Both that resolution and the one arising from Tuesday's hearing - which will be published in the coming days or weeks - may end up in the hands of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) if any of those involved appeal against it. In fact, the Christian Lawyers group has already warned of its intention to take the case to the TSJC and, if necessary, to the Supreme Court, in the event that the sentence does not meet its claims.

Eight months of waiting

In the event that the case is decided on Tuesday, Noelia expressed her desire to accept assisted death before a notary, and the forensic experts have confirmed that she is capable of deciding about her life. Her request was approved by the Guarantee and Evaluation Commission of Catalonia, the body made up of doctors, lawyers, nurses, social workers and psychologists and which is in charge of studying and validating or rejecting requests for euthanasia in Catalonia. The girl's father opened the way to the courts with a lawsuit against this body.

The arguments presented by the lawyer from Abogados Cristianos who represents the father are based on the fact that the daughter's psychiatric history invalidates her desire to request assisted death. This perspective has been contrasted with the arguments of the Generalitat, which defends the decision of the Guarantee and Evaluation Commission. The 19 members of this body unanimously validated the young woman's request for euthanasia in July 2024. The young woman has therefore been waiting for almost eight months to receive assisted death.

"Repeal" the law in court

In light of the court date, the Association for the Right to Die with Dignity has questioned "whether the law that certain political forces were unable to stop in Congress now wants to be annulled by the courts," and warns that it could be an "abuse of rights, since it could be equivalent to fraudulently obstructing the application of a law." They also stressed the suffering that the judicialisation of these requests can cause for people who have already been approved for euthanasia, a mechanism that they consider should be limited to "very exceptional cases." They have also recalled that before a request for euthanasia is approved, the approval of different doctors through the Guarantee and Evaluation Commission of Catalonia is necessary.