In what will be a pioneering law in Spain the Junta de Andalucia have started the project which will become the law for a dignified death. It will give patients the right, within the limits of national law, to end their lives by deciding not to receive treatment. The law will also oblige all medical institutions, public and private and including those run by religious orders, to respect the wishes of their patients. Doctors and other health professionals must respect their patients' decisions, without imposing their own opinions, be they religious, personal, moral or professional.
In a survey of opinion on health care in Andalucia last year 93 per cent of those surveyed agreed that everyone has a right to die with dignity. The law will guarantee that patients receive all the clinical information on their case whenever they want it with a comprehensible prognosis and diagnosis to help make their decision. Palliative care will be available in terminal patients' homes whenever possible if the patient wishes. These patients are also guaranteed an individual room in hospital and can be accompanied by their family at all times if they want.
The Andalucian law will not cover euthanasia as it does not come within the region's legal competence however the Spanish government has announced it is planning legislation allowing 'assisted suicide' which should become law sometime next year.
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