BARCELONA (AFP) - An unprecedented legal saga in Spain pitting a father against his young paraplegic daughter's euthanasia bid moved closer to a resolution on Thursday after the Supreme Court rejected his latest appeal.

Spain is one of few countries to legalize euthanasia following a 2021 law that comes with strict requirements.

It stipulates that anyone of sound mind who is suffering from a "serious and incurable illness" or a "chronic and disabling" condition can request assistance to die.

The woman, in her 20s, was due to undergo the procedure in August 2024 after the euthanasia board in the northeastern Catalonia region supported her request.

But the process was suspended at the last minute after her father filed a legal objection backed by the conservative campaign group Abogados Cristianos ("Christian Lawyers"), with a court applying precautionary measures halting the euthanasia.

The father said his daughter suffered from mental disorders that "could affect her ability to make a free and conscious decision" as required by law.

He also said there were indications she had changed her mind and that her ailment did not entail "unbearable physical or psychological suffering."

The Supreme Court announced on Thursday it had rejected the father's appeal against the rulings of two lower courts that had also dismissed his challenges to have the euthanasia halted.

"The appellant had not managed to refute the presence of all the elements necessary to approve the applicant's euthanasia," the Supreme Court said in a statement, also dismissing alleged procedural irregularities.

Abogados Cristianos said it would take the case to the Constitutional Court, saying the Supreme Court's ruling "entails a serious violation of the basic right to life and a lack of effective legal oversight."

The Constitutional Court can assess whether the father's rights were violated during the legal process but cannot rule on the substance of the previous judgements, which can no longer be appealed.

But it was unclear if the first court that applied the provisional measures would lift them and authorize the euthanasia or would wait for the Constitutional Court's judgment.

The woman, who became paraplegic after throwing herself from the fifth floor of a building in a 2022 suicide attempt, asked a court in April 2024 to allow her to exercise her right to die.

Her case was the first to reach a Spanish court for a judge's consideration since the 2021 euthanasia law was passed.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). Visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.

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By Agence France-Presse

Source: Courthouse News Service