Ángel Hernández has been arrested for helping his wife, María José Carrasco, commit suicide. She had been suffering from multiple sclerosis for more than thirty years and, in recent years, the disease had irreparably deteriorated her. She had stated that she did not want to continue living in these conditions.
María José said on many occasions that she wanted to commit suicide; a life in her condition was not worth living, she had the right to die with dignity and Ángel Hernández did nothing but help her to begin that journey.
The video that has been broadcasted proves that her intention was clear; she did not want to continue living and that for Ángel Hernández it has not been easy, but that, above all, there was his wife's desire to have a dignified death and he has done nothing but make that desire possible.
The case of María José has put on the table the need to regulate euthanasia, so that no one is seen in the situation in which Ángel Hernández has been seen; to have to risk his freedom to help the person he loved die with dignity, regardless of the legal consequences.
Debate is necessary. The political powers must take action and seek the necessary agreements to regulate euthanasia, which has many edges that must be discussed, but it must be done.
Spanish society is mature enough to resist this debate and, furthermore, a large majority is in favour of regulating terminal illnesses and even serious or irreversible illnesses.
What cannot be is that we force people to take unnecessary and painful steps, to break the law because the public authorities do not want to enter into a response to such a complicated and, at the same time, painful issue.
It is high time that euthanasia entered the agenda of all political parties, that they sit down and start working to regulate it and that we stop attending this type of event that affects and hurts us so much.
