Medico legal study of the organic law of the regulation of euthanasia in Spain compared to the rest of the countries that regulate euthanasia and / or assisted suicide

Abstract

The regulation of euthanasia has been the subject of debate for years, from the fields of medicine, law, and bioethics, and therefore of legal medicine, in which these 3 disciplines converge. In the last 30 years, we have experienced a process of decriminalization and regulation in different countries of the world. Currently euthanasia and/or assisted suicide are regulated in 7 countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Colombia, New Zealand, and Spain, as well as in 11 US states: Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, and the Federal District of Columbia / Washington D.C, and in 2 states of Australia: State of Victoria and Western Australia. In this review work, we carry out a study on the most important aspects of the new law of the regulation of euthanasia in Spain compared to the rest of the countries in which they also have the regularization of euthanasia and/or assisted suicide.