Monsignor Luis Argüello pointed out that "the approval of the euthanasia law this morning in the Congress of Deputies, and thus definitively in the Cortes Generales, is bad news".
The Secretary General of the EEC wanted to recall that "in Spain there are 60,000 people every year who die with suffering, which could be remedied with an adequate palliative care policy". This same request for the development of palliative care has been constant since the Spanish government announced its intention to approve this euthanasia law, in an express manner, without social debate and deliberately ignoring voices that oppose the approved norm, such as those of the Spanish Bioethics Committee.
Argüello encouraged Spanish society to "promote a culture of life and to take concrete steps to promote a living will or advance directives that will make it possible for Spanish citizens to express in a clear and determined manner their desire to receive palliative care. Their desire not to be subject to the application of this euthanasia law" and, along the same lines, he has addressed healthcare professionals to "promote conscientious objection and to promote everything that has to do with this culture of life that wants to have a red line saying forcefully 'Thou shalt not kill'".
The Secretary General of the EEC ended his speech with a call to bet on life: "You will not decisively provoke death in order to alleviate suffering, but on the contrary, you will care, you will practice tenderness, closeness, mercy, encouragement, hope for those people who are in the final stretch of their existence, perhaps in moments of suffering that need comfort, care and hope".
