Euthanasia laws in Spain and in the world: Medical aspects

Objective: To compare the Spanish law on euthanasia and assisted suicide with those that exist in other countries. Design: Systematic review of the bibliography. Data sources: Medline/PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies that contained in their title or abstract the descriptors "euthanasia" or "assisted suicide" and also "legislation" or "law", between 2002 and the end of 2020. Study selection: The search found 1647 studies and after screening 663 were assessed, of which 30 were included in the review. Studies that only contained opinions or did not provide data on euthanasia/assisted suicide in the countries that have them regulated were rejected. Data extraction: We registered the criteria that regulate the acceptance or rejection of a request for euthanasia or assisted suicide in Spain and in the other countries where they are decriminalized. Results: The euthanasia regulations in the world can be grouped into three groups: laws that allow euthanasia and assisted suicide (Netherlands, Belgium, some states of Australia, New Zealand, Spain), those in which the law only allows assisted suicide (USA) and those in which only assisted suicide is admitted and based on court decisions, without specific legislation (Switzerland, Germany). Conclusions: Although there are differences, the laws that the Spanish euthanasia law most closely resembles are those of the Netherlands and Belgium, so it is foreseeable that the casuistry of euthanasia and its figures in Spain will resemble that of those countries in the future. (C) 2021 The Author. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U.