Spain will decriminalise euthanasia next year (life, country, people, Spaniard)

[overdrive1979]

We are called to follow the steps of The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg by passing a law which will allow active euthanasia as soon as pòssible, perhaps before the end of 2018.
So, we will be the first country with strong catholic background to do so, which means most people don't care about church rules anymore.
In fact, although many people still attend Holy Week parades, other religious matters are on the decline.
For instance, weekly church attendance falls below 10%, church marriage rate is about 20% of all marriages, 45% of babies are born out wedlock and less than 40% of childs are baptised, which makes Spain one of the less religious catholic country in the world.

Anyway, coming back to euthanasia, I don't know why other northern European countries don't allow euthanasia. Same goes for same-sex marriage, as Spain was the third European country after The Netherlands and Belgium to approve such status while most northern European countries did that some years later.

[MarisaAnna]

Same sex marriages have only just become legal here and euthanasia has been legalised, in a very limited way, in Victoria (our second biggest state) actually, I think, in the same week.
One reason here, and the same may apply in other countries, is that many doctors oppose euthanasia, as I believe they do in the US. Also, even though our country is quite secular, some of our leading politicians are religious and oppose it. Actually the European experience is used as an argument against the legalisation, rightly or wrongly, the argument being that the scope of the legislation is likely to be continually widened and that old and sick people may feel obliged to take that path to avoid burdening their families and the social welfare system.

[overdrive1979]

Our neighbouring catholic country Portugal is also doing pretty well. In fact, Portugal approved same-sex marriages in 2010 whereas Finland did so too late in March 2017!

[overdrive1979]

Originally Posted by MarisaAnna

Same sex marriages have only just become legal here and euthanasia has been legalised, in a very limited way, in Victoria (our second biggest state) actually, I think, in the same week.

Why not in the rest of your country?
Do you mean active euthanasia or pasive euthanasia?
Pasive euthanasia is legal in many european countries including Spain since few years ago, so by this thread I mean Spain will decriminalise active euthanasia, same than The Netherlands and Belgium.

[other99]

Originally Posted by overdrive1979

We are called to follow the steps of The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg by passing a law which will allow active euthanasia as soon as pòssible, perhaps before the end of 2018.
So, we will be the first country with strong catholic background to do so, which means most people don't care about church rules anymore.
In fact, although many people still attend Holy Week parades, other religious matters are on the decline.
For instance, weekly church attendance falls below 10%, church marriage rate is about 20% of all marriages, 45% of babies are born out wedlock and less than 40% of childs are baptised, which makes Spain one of the less religious catholic country in the world.

Anyway, coming back to euthanasia, I don't know why other northern European countries don't allow euthanasia. Same goes for same-sex marriage, as Spain was the third European country after The Netherlands and Belgium to approve such status while most northern European countries did that some years later.

Actually in the early 2000s, same sex marriage was not as popular. Even when Canada legalised same sex marriage and one of the earliest, there were polls that stated just over a majority did not support it or found it strange. Actually there were big protests against same sex marriage in Spain when the Spanish government wanted to legalise same sex marriage. These protests were even bigger than the ones in the USA. Even France has really big protests against same sex marriage a few years ago.

An reason why less people get married or more and more people have children out of wedlock is people can get the same benefits now, just as married couples, and also due to cultural reasons. Not so long ago, people having children out of wedlock, or living together and never getting married, meant that the couples can't get the same government benefits, compared to married couples. What is the use for couples not to get married, since they enjoy the same rights as married couples? Also Weddings can be a very expensive business. Also the couples parents in the past expected the unmarried couple to get married. Yet these days most couples don't have that pressure.

Enthanasia will spread to more countries and become more widespread.

[overdrive1979]

Originally Posted by other99

Actually there were big protests against same sex marriage in Spain when the Spanish government wanted to legalise same sex marriage. These protests were even bigger than the ones in the USA. Even France has really big protests against same sex marriage a few years ago.

Those protests were not big at all, but few people presured by the higher echelons of the Church directed by the far-right rot where most Spaniards bishops belong as they see themselves as the European championships of Catholicism versus 95% of Spaniard popultation who don't support catholic rules anymore about pre-marital sex, condoms, euthanasia and so on, although many people in Spain still appreciate Holy Week parades as a cultural heritage.

I would say France and Portugal experienced almost the same during the recent years, although the government of France works as a pure, strong secular one while the higher government echelons of Spain and Portugal are secular in a weaker way and their goverments still give a lot of money to the catholic church every year, which is a waste of money because most churchs are empty since 15 years ago or so.

While most people from northern European countries became secular after WWII and their religious decline was soft and prolonged during the last 70 years, the southern European catholic countries such as Spain began their religious decline during early 80's but it was a sharp, hard decline, so that's why nowadays the society of Spain is even less religious than Scandinavian ones and at the same level than Benelux countries.

Just take a look to this nationwide Spanish chart and look how the percentage of church marriages (dark blue) is falling sharply versus the raise of civilian ones (red):

[Monbus]

The religious decline of Spain started 400 to 500 years ago, when people did not distinguish between religion and power. Spain ceased to be a christian country centuries ago. When Azaña declared in 1935 that Spain was not Catholic anymore..he was wrong..as Catholicism was power..not religious.
The left is also infected by Christians.
They are the worse.

[Monbus]

The southern Europe-Northern Europe divide concerning religion is extremelly ignorant. Catholic fanaticism was reintroduced in Spain by Flemish..the Hapsburgs.

[Monbus]

Spain accepted same marriage..etc..laws as a reaction against Nacionalcatolicismo. Very dificult to explain to people that never lived through that period. Even if you were a Franco sympathiser..the catholic church made your life impossible.

[Monbus]

As women gained access to contraception pills..to the job market..and they fled parochial environmnents in towns...as religion lost power and tried to switch hypocritally to the left...curas obreros..etc..their power banished. People preserve catholic festivities..but no burro y la virgen and all the crap.