Spain’s top court rejects father’s effort to block daughter’s euthanasia

By Emma Pinedo

MADRID, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Spain's Constitutional Court has rejected an appeal by the father of a 25‑year‑old paraplegic woman who  opposes her access to euthanasia, the court said in a statement on Friday.

Spain’s Euthanasia Law (2021)

Legal Background and Case Timeline

In 2021, Spain became the fourth European Union country to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide for people with incurable or severely debilitating conditions who wish to end their lives. In 2024, 426 people received assistance in dying, according to government data.

According to legal rulings, the woman, who is suffering from a psychiatric illness, attempted suicide several times by overdosing on medication before jumping from a fifth‑floor window in October 2022, an act that left her paraplegic and in chronic pain.

Committee Approval in Catalonia

In July 2024, a specialised expert committee in her region, Catalonia, approved her request for euthanasia. The procedure was scheduled for August 2, 2024, but her father has blocked it ever since.

Patient’s Medical Condition

Medical case reports state that the patient is suffering from severe, chronic and incapacitating pain from her injury, with no possibility of improvement.    

The father, supported by the ultra‑conservative advocacy group Abogados Cristianos ("Christian Lawyers"), argued that his daughter's mental illness could impair her ability to make a free and informed decision about ending her life.

Supreme and Constitutional Rulings

Court Decisions to Date

Several lower courts backed her case, and on Friday the Constitutional Court, Spain's highest tribunal, ruled there had been no violation of fundamental rights.

Public Debate and Opposition

Although the country broadly supports the right to assisted dying, the euthanasia law was enacted after years of fierce opposition from conservative parties and the Catholic Church, which has historically shaped public attitudes on end‑of‑life issues.

Planned ECHR Appeal

Advocacy Group Response

Abogados Cristianos said on Friday it would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

"We will not abandon these parents. We will continue to fight to the end to defend their right to save their daughter's life," the group's head, Polonia Castellanos, said in a statement.

(Reporting by Emma Pinedo; Editing by David Latona and Andrei Khalip)