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Noelia Castillo, 25, Dies by Euthanasia After Courts Reject Father’s Bid to Stop It

The case has intensified scrutiny of Spain's 2021 right-to-die law, especially its safeguards for people with severe trauma or psychiatric illness.

Overview

  • Castillo, a Barcelona woman left paraplegic after a 2022 suicide attempt, died by an approved euthanasia procedure on Thursday in Catalonia after domestic and European courts declined to halt it.
  • Her father, Geronimo Castillo, challenged the approval with Abogados Cristianos, and Spain’s Constitutional Court rejected his appeal in February, followed by the European Court of Human Rights denying an emergency request on March 10.
  • Hospital accounts say she asked to be alone at the moment of death and received two deep sedatives followed by a final injection that caused cardiac arrest.
  • A newly surfaced video obtained by Spanish outlet Okdiario shows her father encouraging her as she took careful steps using forearm crutches.
  • Catholic bishops and conservative groups condemned the outcome and urged changes to protect vulnerable applicants under Spain’s law, which allows assisted death for serious, chronic or disabling conditions after medical review.