The obstacles to receiving euthanasia in the State: "Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to go to a nursing home?"

BarcelonaMaría Dolores Barrero exercised her right to die with dignity last February due to multiple system atrophy, which caused her great suffering. It is a rare and incurable disease very similar to Parkinson's, which affects movement, causes muscles to stiffen, and progresses very rapidly, leaving sufferers with a very limited life expectancy. Despite the fact that the euthanasia law came into effect four years ago, María encountered many barriers to obtaining assisted death and had to battle the lack of knowledge of the professionals at her primary healthcare center, located in a rural area of Huelva, Andalusia. "She had daily pain attacks that incapacitated her, she had to take morphine in increasingly higher doses, and her doctor didn't know how the legal procedure worked," recalls her son, Lucas Barrero, in a conversation with ARA.

His mother requested euthanasia at the end of 2024, but had to wait a month and a half longer than the law allows to receive it. More than 40 days of suffering, pain, and morphine while waiting for her case to be resolved. Her son remembers some of the things he heard from his mother throughout the process, such as "we'll talk when I get back from vacation," "don't you think it's premature?", "are you sure you don't prefer to go to a nursing home?" or even, "this is unnatural, it goes against the law of life." The Right to a Dignified Death association notes that there is inequality between the territories of the State and an imbalance in the application of the law depending on the autonomous community. In Catalonia, for example, they are concentrated more than one in four applications, far ahead of other communities, although only half are accepted, according to a report by the entity.

Another obstacle faced by people requesting euthanasia is the judicial process. Although there are few the cases that reach the courts Due to appeals from family members who oppose the right of a loved one to die with dignity, the Catalan entity is studying ways to promote a reform so that these appeals are resolved within a maximum period of time that respects the suffering of the people who request it. According to Ramon Riu, a jurist specializing in health law, the option would be to promote a reform of the contentious-administrative law to include a specific procedure so that appeals must be resolved as quickly as possible. "If the law provides a specific procedure for the right to demonstrate, which is resolved in 10 days maximum, how many days does the right to die with dignity need?" asks the expert, who believes that the response time of the courts is "totally disproportionate."

More information and clear protocols

Riu asserts that the cases that have reached the courts are an "exception," since the law applies to more than 1,300 cases and only four have been challenged in court. He also says that they are not bothered by the fact that a high-profile case opens the door to new appeals against people's rights. "We don't have that fear; we are convinced that the courts will rule by inadmissing appeals or dismissing them. There is perfectly established and rigorous jurisprudence from the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court," she states. However, the president of the Right to a Dignified Death, Cristina Vallès, regrets that there are political parties [to the courts], but they delay and cast doubt on the process. "It's a problem of total lack of ethics; it's indecent," she concludes.

Vallès believes that an institutional campaign is needed to inform citizens about the right to euthanasia, clear and standardized protocols on how to proceed, since there are currently many referrals from private to public centers, and more training for healthcare professionals. She also believes that the role of euthanasia representatives in healthcare centers must be strengthened and an "easy-to-consult" registry of conscientious objectors must be promoted.