The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has proposed the approval of a state palliative care law, as he advanced in an interview granted to Servimedia, in which he denounced an “evident failure of public administrations” and an “abandonment for many years by the Spanish State of Noelia.”
A proposal after the case of Noelia
Feijóo had already defended in the days after the 25-year-old woman received the benefit to die that “the progress of Spain cannot be measured in the number of deaths it allows, but in the number of lives it accompanies until the last breath”.
Now, it takes another step by proposing a state regulation that guarantees physical and psychological accompaniment at the end of life, although it has avoided clarifying whether it would repeal the euthanasia law if it came to power. “I would not like at this moment to reopen a debate about a law that we have also not supported,” he pointed out.
Reference to the Galician model
The popular leader has recalled that several autonomous communities already have legislation in this area and has given as an example the law approved in Galicia in 2015 during his time at the head of the Xunta.
This framework gathers principles such as the defense of the autonomy, the will and the values of the person in the final process of their life, a base that could inspire the future state proposal.
Call to a “non-partisan” debate
Feijóo has defended the need to open a "non-partisan" reflection on this matter, appealing especially to the parties that supported the euthanasia law, although he has stressed that it must involve "the entire political class".
In their judgment, Noelia's case evidences a failure of the system: a young woman with a history of vulnerability, marked by personal and emotional difficulties, who finally requested euthanasia through legal channels.
“There has been an evident abandonment by the State, which has not been able to attend to her nor help her overcome her situation,” he/she/it has affirmed.
Palliative care versus euthanasia
The leader of the PP has insisted that the option to die “cannot be the norm, but the exception of all exceptions”, defending a model focused on integral accompaniment for the patient.
Nevertheless, the current legislation on euthanasia establishes that the patient must receive complete information about their situation, including alternatives such as palliative care, and undergo several independent medical evaluations to guarantee a free and informed decision.
The positioning of the PP in the debate
With these statements, Feijóo sets for the first time a more defined position in the debate on euthanasia. The PP voted against the law during the period of Pablo Casado and appealed the norm before the Constitutional Court, which endorsed it in 2023.
Until now, the national leadership of the party had avoided specifying its position, limiting itself to defending a system of palliative care “better equipped and humanized”.