The six-hundred-and-one-day appeal chain that kept her waiting

A young woman in Spain waited 601 days for approved euthanasia - but should mental health allow that choice?

The six-hundred-and-one-day appeal chain that kept her waiting

In this episode, we follow the timeline of a medical request, the legal obstacles it encountered, and the personal history that led up to a final appointment that never happened. What did a chain of appeals across five courts and four countries do to the woman at its center?

Person: Noelia Castillo Ramos Date of birth: 14 November 2000 Event: Euthanasia request approved by Catalonia Guarantee and Evaluation Commission Duration: 601 days of legal appeals Location: Sant Pere de Ribes, Province of Barcelona

- A unanimous medical commission in Catalonia approved Noelia’s euthanasia request in July 2024 and scheduled the procedure for August 2024. - Her father and the Association of Christian Lawyers filed the first appeal, triggering a sequence of legal challenges spanning nineteen months. - Courts in Spain and other jurisdictions reviewed whether her diagnoses-OCD and borderline personality disorder-impaired her capacity to consent. - The Barcelona court ruled in March 2025 that her mental health diagnoses did not remove her capacity to decide, yet appeals continued. - Over six hundred and one days, five separate judicial bodies processed the case while Noelia lived through chronic pain, paraplegia, and the waiting the appeals imposed.

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