In Spain, a victory for euthanasia campaigners

Ramona Maneiro was arrested in 1998 accused of having a hand in the death of her friend Ramon Sampedro. A tetraplegic, Sampedro had fought a 30-year court battle to be able to end his life with dignity. At 55 he finally ingested cyanide. His death stirred a national debate and fuelled calls for assisted suicide to be legalised. Seven years later, after the statute of limitations had expired, Maneiro admitted to having helped Sampedro. Now over two decades later, Spain’s parliament has voted through a law legalising euthanasia, becoming one of the few nations to allow terminally-ill or gravely-injured patients to end their own suffering.