Spanish Woman, 25, Dies By Legal Euthanasia In Case That Drew National Spotlight

MADRID (AP) — Noelia Castillo, the Spanish woman who requested euthanasia and fought a long legal battle with her family over her right to do so, received life-long medication in Barcelona on Thursday. He was 25 years old.

Castillo pursued his right to die for nearly two years after his father waged a long legal battle after a medical institution in Catalonia approved his request for euthanasia in 2024.

As the family’s struggle progressed, Castillo’s case was followed closely in Spain. Became law in 2021 It guarantees the right to euthanasia and medically assisted suicide for patients who meet certain conditions.

Castillo’s young age, his family’s public fight to stop him, and the circumstances that led him to resort to euthanasia galvanized public opinion, with courts ultimately ruling in favor of his right to end his life.

“I finally made it, so let’s see if I can rest now,” Castillo told Spanish broadcaster Antena 3 in an interview published Wednesday. he said. “I can’t go on anymore.”

Castillo’s parents opposed his decision to the end and were represented by the conservative Catholic organization Abogados Cristianos. On Thursday, the Catholic organization confirmed that he died in a hospital in Barcelona, ​​where a small group of people had gathered outside him.

Lawyer Polonia Castellanos, president of Abogados Cristianos, said Castillo’s family was deeply disappointed in the outcome and believed the Spanish government abandoned and failed their daughter by allowing her death.

“Death is the last option, especially if you are very young,” Castellanos said.

Castillo said he has struggled with psychiatric illnesses since adolescence and twice tried to take his own life after being sexually assaulted. Due to the injuries he received in his second suicide attempt in 2022, he was unable to use his legs and was confined to a wheelchair.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they are publicly identified, as Castillo did.

In April 2024, Castillo requested euthanasia from an independent body of doctors, lawyers and bioethicists who deliberate on the application of Spanish law in Catalonia.

The agency approved Castillo’s request based on assessments that his condition was considered serious and incurable and that the 25-year-old was suffering from severe, chronic and debilitating pain.

In 2021, Spain legalized physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia for those suffering from terminal illnesses and those with unbearable permanent conditions. The process involves submitting two requests in writing, followed by consultation with medical professionals not previously involved in the case. The law faced intense criticism from conservative political parties and the Catholic Church.

Castillo’s father appealed the Catalan institution’s decision, and in August 2024 a court suspended the request for euthanasia pending deliberation. Castillo’s father, through Abogados Cristianos, argued that his daughter’s mental illness made her incapable of making the decision to end her life.

When a court in Barcelona ruled in favor of Castillo’s right to be euthanized, his father’s lawyers appealed again, and the case eventually reached the Spanish Supreme Court. In January, the court upheld Castillo’s rights. Abogados Cristianos made a final attempt to stop the procedure by appealing to the European Court of Human Rights, which rejected the request earlier this month.

Before Castillo died on Thursday, Castellanos reiterated his client’s view that Castillo had a personality disorder and said the case was an example of the euthanasia law failing citizens.

“I think this is evidence that the law has failed and needs to be repealed immediately,” he said. “We were told that this was a law that applied to very extreme situations, for people who were very sick, almost dying. Here we see it being used to end the life of a girl who was only 25 years old, with a treatable disease, who had her whole life ahead of her.”

Speaking to Spanish television, Castillo claimed that he was misunderstood and said that he did not want his family to be with him when he died. He acknowledged that his case had attracted media attention.

“Frankly, none of my family supports euthanasia because I am another pillar of the family,” he said, adding, “what about the pain I have been going through all these years?”

A disability rights group in Madrid has called for a review of Spain’s euthanasia law, adding that it is essential to improve resources for people with disabilities, chronic diseases or highly dependent conditions.

“Before making death easier, the system must effectively guarantee dignified living conditions,” Javier Font, President of the Madrid Federation of Physically and Organically Disabled Associations, said in his statement.

Spain is among nine European countries with laws allowing people experiencing unbearable pain to access assisted death, according to Dignity in Dying, a UK-based rights group that advocates for euthanasia and medically assisted suicide. Criteria vary by country.

While medically assisted suicide involves patients themselves taking a lethal drink or drug prescribed by a doctor, euthanasia involves doctors or healthcare practitioners, under strict conditions, actively killing patients who meet certain conditions by administering a lethal injection at their request.

Since Spain adopted its euthanasia law, 1,123 people have been administered life-ending drugs by the end of 2024, according to the country’s health ministry.

Castillo said he never questioned his decision as he had to reiterate his desire to end his life. For him the calculation was simple.

“The happiness of a father or a mother should not come before the happiness of a daughter.”

If you or someone you know needs help call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for mental health support. You can also find local mental health and crisis resources at: dontcallthepolice.com. Outside the USA please visit: International Association for Suicide Prevention.