The Supreme Court (TS) has dismissed the appeal filed by the father of Noelia, the 24-year-old woman from Barcelona suffering from paraplegia. This decision supports the previous ruling by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) which had authorized the right to a dignified death in the summer of 2024, although the procedure had been temporarily suspended.
The ultraconservative organization Abogados Cristianos, representing the father, immediately announced that it will file a new appeal before the Constitutional Court, despite the Supreme Court declaring the ruling to be final and unappealable. The TS limited its decision to technical issues, avoiding ruling on the precautionary measures that halted the euthanasia procedure in extremis in August 2024.
“"If necessary, we will go to Strasbourg. It cannot be allowed that authorization to end a person's life is granted without real and effective judicial control."
The Supreme Court acknowledged the existence of a "surprising and censurable" procedural irregularity in the actions of the "medical-legal duo" that approved the request, although it considered that this did not alter the administrative outcome. The appealing entity maintains an open criminal investigation against the members of this duo for alleged prevarication and falsehood.
The young woman, born in 2000, suffered severe sequelae and loss of autonomy, forcing her into a wheelchair, after jumping from a fifth floor in October 2022. Although medical reports from June 2023 considered her stable, she alleges double incontinence, loss of sensation, and pain, reasons why she formalized the euthanasia request in April 2024.
