The lower house of Spain's Parliament voted Thursday to legalize the euthanasia bill.
After being struck down several times, the bill now advances to the Senate for approval, which many expect would happen.
Once approved by the Senate, the new law will take effect three months after its publication in the government gazette.
The bill was passed with 198 voting in favor and 138 voting against. It was supported by the governing left-wing coalition, getting votes from the PSOE block, Más País, Ciudadanos, Catalonian parties ERC, CUP and Junts per Catalunya, Galician party BNG, and Basque parties PNV and EH Bildu, Evangelical Focus reports.
The bill allows euthanasia and assisted suicide (health professionals assisting patients to administer fatal drugs on themselves) for patients who have suffered a long time from "a serious and incurable disease" or a "debilitating and chronic condition" the patients consider as "intolerable." The bill does not give specific descriptions as to what counts as "intolerable."
For patients to receive euthanasia or assisted suicide, they must specifically ask for it in four different occasions. The first is through a written request; the second is also through a written request made no less than two weeks since the first request; the third is after consulting with a doctor; and the fourth is before going through the actual procedure, Associated Press reports.
The patients must be a Spanish citizen or a legal resident, meaning they have been residing in Spain for more than a year. They must be of legal age. They must also have the capacity for rational decisions.
In case the patient is "not in full possession of his or her faculties," the request may be made by the doctor using a "legally equivalent document."
The procedure can be carried out in hospitals or at home. If the patient changes his or her mind, the request can be reversed anytime.
The bill also allows health professionals to not participate if their beliefs do not agree with it by filing a written request.
Addressing the lawmakers, Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa said that Spain "cannot remain impassive when faced with the intolerable pain that many people suffer."
However, the bill has been met with opposition from religious groups and the conservative People's Party. On Thursday, people gathered outside Parliament carrying banners with the words "Government of Death" to protest the bill.
Spain's far-right party Vox, along with Conservative parties PP and UPN, opposed the bill. Vox has declared it will go to the Constitutional Court to appeal the bill's unconstitutionality.
"The euthanasia law is a defeat for civilization and a victory for the culture of death, for those who believe that some lives are more worthy than others," Vox leader Santiago Abascal said, VOA reports.
If the Senate passes the bill, Spain will be the seventh country in the world and the fourth country in Europe to legalize euthanasia. Euthanasia is presently legal in Colombia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland, and Luxembourg.
The Spanish Evangelical Alliance (AEE) previously issued a statement opposing the bill. The group urged the government to "clearly address how we face hopelessness and pain" and to provide "measures that ensure support for the patient and the opportunity of giving him, if he so wishes, spiritual support."
They also called on the government to give the people access to better palliative care.
"Some of the patients who take euthanasia into consideration, do so because they do not feel accompanied or because they do not want to impose a burden on their relatives; the way to solve this is not euthanasia, but accompaniment, emotional support and empathy," the AEE said.
