Published 17 September 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1697
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a1697

News

Spain may legalise assisted suicide, health minister says

Tiago Villanueva

1 Lisbon

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Spain may see the legalisation of assisted suicide in the near future if proposed reforms of the law are carried out, the country’s health minister has said.

End of life care in Spain is due for a major overhaul, said the minister, Bernat Soria, in an interview in the daily newspaper El País (www.elpais.com, 7 Sep, "Tu cuerpo es tuyo, eso es socialista" ("Your body is yours—that is socialist"). The reforms, which may include the legalisation of assisted suicide, are intended to reduce unnecessary suffering among patients, Dr Soria explained.

He said, "The change will ensure that the patient’s right to a dignified death becomes a real right.

"We know that people die suffering. This cannot be. We are not going to win the battle against death, but we can win the battle against pain."

The government has been working on a national strategy for palliative care, he . . . [Full text of this article]


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