madrid– Noelia Castillo, a Spanish woman who sought euthanasia and fought a long legal battle with her family over her right, received life-ending medication in Barcelona on Thursday. She was 25 years old.
Editor’s note – This story contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the international helpline can be found at www.iasp.info/suicidalthinks.
For a year and a half, Castillo pursued her right to die while her father fought a lengthy legal battle after a medical body in Catalonia approved his daughter’s request for euthanasia in 2024.
As the family conflict unfolded, Castillo’s case garnered significant attention in Spain.
Laws passed in 2021 ensuring the right to euthanasia and medically assisted suicide for patients who meet certain conditions. Public opinion was galvanised by Castillo’s young age, the family’s public battle to stop her, and the circumstances that led her to seek euthanasia, especially as the courts ultimately ruled in favour of her right to end her life.
Castillo told a Spanish broadcaster.
“Finally, I’ve managed it, so let’s see if I can rest now,” Castillo told Spanish broadcaster Antena 3 in an interview broadcast on Wednesday, the day before his death. “I can’t walk anymore.”
Castillo’s parents opposed her decision until the end and were represented by the conservative Catholic organization Abogados Cristianos in the fight to prevent their daughter’s euthanasia. The Catholic group confirmed Thursday that he had died.
Attorney Polonia Castellanos said Castillo’s family was deeply disappointed by the outcome and believed the Spanish government had abandoned and failed their daughter by allowing her to die.
“Death is the last option, especially when you’re very young,” Castellanos said.
Castillo tried to take her own life twice before being euthanised Thursday, she said, adding that it was the second time she was sexually assaulted. Injuries sustained in her second suicide attempt in October 2022 left her unable to use her legs and confined to a wheelchair.
In April 2024, Castillo requested euthanasia with an independent body in Catalonia composed of doctors, lawyers and bioethics experts who deliberated on the application of Spain’s law.
The body approved Castillo’s request based on assessments that deemed his condition serious and incurable, and the 25-year-old suffered severe, chronic, and debilitating pain.
Spain will legalise physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in 2021 for patients suffering from long-term incurable diseases and those with unbearable permanent conditions. The process for patients to obtain permission to die involves submitting two requests in writing, followed by consultation with medical professionals who were not previously involved in the case.
Castillo’s father appealed against the decision of the Catalan body, which suspended euthanasia requests pending deliberations until August 2024. Through Abogados Cristianos, Castillo’s family argued that she suffered from mental illness that left her incapable of making the decision to end her life.
When the Barcelona court ruled in favour of Castillo’s right to euthanasia, his father’s lawyers appealed again and took the case to Spain’s Supreme Court, which upheld his rights in January. Abogados Cristianos tried to halt the process again by appealing to the European Court of Human Rights, which had rejected a request to halt it earlier this month.
On Thursday, Castellanos reiterated his client’s arguments that Castillo had a personality disorder and held up Castillo’s case as an example of citizens failing to follow the law.
“This is a man whose will was altered because of that disorder,” Castellanos said. “I think this is evidence of the failure of the law and it should be repealed immediately.”
Speaking to Spanish TV on Wednesday, Castillo said she did not want her family to be around when she died, claiming she felt misunderstood. He admitted that the media made a lot of headlines on his case.
She said, “My family opposes euthanasia because I’m a pillar of it, but what about my years of suffering?”
According to the UK-based rights group Dignity in Dying, which advocates for euthanasia and medically assisted death, Spain is one of nine European Union countries with laws allowing people experiencing unbearable suffering to access assisted death. In euthanasia the patients themselves take a lethal drink or medicine which is prescribed by the doctor to the patients who meet certain criteria. The criteria vary by country.
Euthanasia, on the other hand, involves doctors or health practitioners actively killing patients who meet certain conditions by giving them a lethal injection at their request, under strict conditions.
Since Spain adopted euthanasia laws, 1,123 people have been given life-ending medication by the end of 2024, according to the Spanish Health Ministry.
Castillo said he never questioned his decision, as he had to reiterate his wish to die over the past year and a half. The calculation was simple for him.
“The happiness of a father or mother should not be given more priority than the happiness or life of a daughter.”
