Turning a human life into the battlefield of a war not their own. The writer contemplates Noelia, a twenty‑four‑year‑old Catalan woman who became completely paraplegic after a failed suicide attempt. She was granted euthanasia because she met the conditions laid out by Spanish law. Yet she had to return to court to defend her autonomous wish to die, a determination she has expressed consistently even as her father challenged it, backed by a conservative association intent on pushing its own ideology at someone else’s expense. The courts have again recognized Noelia’s right. The writer questions the outcome, but can understand the father’s position. Accepting a loved one’s decision to end their life is never easy; doing so can feel like the ultimate act of love—the hardest thing a family member may ever bear.
Another case stands out for the observer: one of the first people to enroll under the law of dying with dignity that began in June 2021. She was a beloved mother, grandmother, aunt, and friend. For years she lived with an incurable illness, a physical and mental torment for a woman who had always been a force of nature. A matriarch who never dodged making decisions, living by her own compass, bending only as much as needed to fit the era’s narrow rules. Elegant in form and substance. Close, loving, radiant. A leader and pillar of her family. So powerful that her end came with a mercy she had not asked for, a time of pain, not the tranquil horizon she deserved. Months before the law passed, she told her children the decision she had given careful thought to. She would seek euthanasia; she no longer wished to continue living like that. Her life had been wonderful, but she was exhausted. She asked for companionship, not permission, not forgiveness. It was hard for them to accept her will, to see that it was about her and not them. They had to let her go, and they did so with respect until the end.
As the pillar of the family, she guided them through the many steps required to access the right to die with dignity, steps that were neither few nor trivial. Months were filled with interviews, diagnoses, and formal reports. They explained in detail what would unfold if she held to her decision to the end. When the medical committee reviewing each file granted its approval, she felt a quiet sense of achievement at nearing the finish line she had envisioned. A date was set with the clinicians. She used the remaining time to say goodbye to all who loved her, sharing her favorite dishes and the long conversations that mattered. She organized her life, arranged her papers, and spoke honestly with those who would stay behind. She chose not to stage the moment with theatrics, preferring a simple, intimate medical act, close to the people she loved. She stayed in control until the final moment. Her last words on this earth were “thank you, doctor.”