Noelia Castillo Ramos, a 25-year-old woman, was euthanized in Spain on March 26, 2026, despite her father’s objections. The decision followed a suicide attempt that left her paraplegic after she endured multiple sexual assaults.
Ramos died at a care facility where she had been receiving medical support. Her father pursued legal intervention in both Spanish courts and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to halt the euthanasia, but his efforts were unsuccessful.
In a statement, Ramos’s father emphasized: “The obligation of the state is to protect the lives of people, especially the most vulnerable, as is the case with a young person with mental health problems.”
Pro-life advocates criticized the decision, arguing that Ramos was abandoned by a system that failed to protect her from sexual assault and instead offered death. A friend attempted to visit Ramos before the procedure but was denied access.
Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain’s anti-mass migration VOX party, stated that Ramos’s suicide attempt was prompted by gang rape at the hands of “MENAS” (migrants from the Middle East and North Africa) while she lived in a center for vulnerable people. Abascal said: “The State takes a daughter away from her parents. She is raped by MENAs. And the State’s solution is to force her to commit suicide. Sánchez’s Spain is a horror film.”
However, Spanish media reported that Ramos was assaulted by an ex-partner, subjected to an attempted assault by two men at a nightclub, and assaulted by “three men at once” in another incident.
In December 2025, Canada euthanized nearly 100,000 individuals under its medical assistance in dying program. Meanwhile, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed legislation permitting terminally ill patients to be euthanized, set to take effect in September 2026.
