National
Spain prepares legislation on assisted suicide
By h.b.
Sep 8, 2008 - 8:04 AM

Spanish Minister for Health, Bernat Soria, has said that Spain is prepared for legislation of assisted suicide. His comments come as the Government is preparing changes to regulate euthanasia, with the Minister telling the press that ‘the owner of your body is you’.

His comments came in an interview in Sunday’s El País newspaper, which he told that his ministry was working on a National Strategy for Palliative Care which would include the training of professionals, more home help, and the right to a dignified death and for a patient to say ‘I don’t want to be submitted to torture’.

Such changes in legislation would need a change to the Penal Code in Spain and take the country close to similar laws in Holland and Belgium. The Minister said he hoped for a wide consensus on the subject.