The Spanish Lower House of Parliament approved, on the 20th of December, the country’s first nationwide law guaranteeing a dignified death.

This means that every Spaniard has the constitutional right to integral palliative care, to be accompanied during pain treatment in the last stages of life.

In effect it means that the patient is the only person who can decide what treatment he or she will receive and nobody can make them undergo unnecessary suffering during the last days of their life.

The new law also protects doctors and medical staff whilst carrying out the wishes of the patient.

This new law, which was put forward by the opposition party, Ciudadanos (centre-right), guarantees the patient all the relevant information concerning his/her condition so that he/she can make the decision how to proceed; reject treatment that would lengthen lifespan without hope of avoiding death. The terminal patient has the right to terminal sedation to avoid suffering although it would accelerate pending death.

The law, which received the support of the PP, PSOE and Podemos, is designed to avoid some 50,000 patients every year dying without palliative care, according to medical experts.

There was moments of controversy, however, because the PSOE introduced an amendment that prevented a nationwide penalty system to act against hospitals or clinics that act against the law, preferring instead that such a penalty system was dealt with on a regional basis, since many regions already have such a law covering the terminally ill.

The only parties that voted against the bill were the regional nationalist parties, PNV, ERC and PDeCAT, who considered that it represented interference from the Central Government in regional matters.

(News: Spain)