Woman dies by euthanasia after becoming paraplegic trying to commit suicide after gang rape

[AComplicatedWoman]

This is one of the most heartbreaking news stories I have come across.

Noelia Castillo had a difficult childhood and spent much of it in care homes. She was sexually assaulted by her ex-boyfriend of four years after she had taken sleeping pills to help her sleep, and was assaulted on another occasion by several men in a nightclub. She attempted suicide in October 2022, and it left her unable to use her legs and in a wheelchair. Noelia conducted a long legal battle with her father for the right to end her life and she died by euthanasia on Thursday.

RIP Noelia. I am so sorry that your life was destroyed by these abhorrent abusive men.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/noelia-castillo-euthanasia-law-spain-b2946671.html

I'm so angry about male violence being tolerated, and women being expected to 'solve' it by being quiet, or dressing in a certain way, and not being believed so the rape conviction rate is basically non existent unless captured by camera's.

But people do have issues when animal charities rescue neglected pets and then put them down because nobody comes forward to look after them, they’ve had a difficult life in the past, and there simply aren’t the resources made available to look after them. I feel like, in the case of humans, those resources should be found.

There's already enough of a narrative in this country where the elderly are scapegoated for all society's ills and problems let alone building in something like that

This poor woman through no fault of her own had her choice for what was done to her body taken away from her. She had previously attempted suicide and it ended with her being disabled. I think if anything the world should respect her final wish to do what she wanted with her body with dignity.

Your comment makes me feel ill.

Having known and worked with people with multiple disabilities, how do you think it would feel to read that as justification for death?

It's a great reminder not to fall into the trap of thinking that men whose goals happen to align with ours on some things will support us on any other point.

They're always happy to throw women under the bus, making everything all about them, and in this case, declaring that women shouldn't be able to access abortion.

Being paraplegic is not 'beyond help' ffs. Neither is trauma or mental health problems caused by it.

That's clearly not the way she saw it. We know this, because she requested to be euthanised. And, when her father and others tried to prevent it, she fought them every step of the way, until she got what she wanted.

I’m glad this wretched woman finally got her wish, it’s just sad her father, with whom she did not have a close relationship, caused an almost 2 year delay and prolonged her unhappiness.

This is what we call In the trade - a stretch.

This. It’s about bodily autonomy, which is the backbone of a civilised society in my opinion. If we think it’s humane to euthanise animals that are suffering why can’t we accept the same is true of humans?

Yes I agree - But - they aren't being and likely never will be until we reach a post scarcity society. So what do we do until then?

People are missing my point.
The only thing in her life she had control over was her 'right' to live, it was her right, so this should be respected. This is what this movement is all about and supports.

She didn't have control over anything else as all of that was taken from her, right from her childhood, the abuse she suffered and even down to having no control of her own body as she was paralysed.

And I still think it's relevant that people can put animals to sleep but humans can't make this decision themselves. Even if you do eat animals but not humans, and even if it is legal to put down an animal at the drop of a hat 🙄

It could even more easily happen in mental health services. They are primed for it, frankly.

Even before the auteristy years, before everything else was underfunded, people were routinely told there was no help and if they had mental capacity it was their choice to end their lives. There's no way of saying "I am suicidal but trying to find another way out" and actually receiving appropriate treatment/support.

Even worse now, with no meaningful therapy (and harsher living conditions) healing becomes further out of reach, and overstretched services will simply remind people they have capacity and responsibility if they wish to die. Then a referral to euthanasia services...

Yes,
https://nypost.com/2026/02/26/world-news/shocking-report-exposes-terrifying-reality-of-assisted-suicide-in-canada/

In Ontario alone it is dozens every year and even more for the day after they submitted first request.

But no one was stopping her from committing suicide, and I believe she was physically capable of enacting it, so I'm not sure why the state needed to be involved in this particular case.

My unease around the issue is that normalising state assisted suicide may demotivate a state from improving its (usually dreadful) care of people with mental health issues, disabilities, or other things that cost them money, and place even more pressure on people to seek euthanasia instead of support.

If she (and her parents) had been given better care and support earlier on in life, she may not have ended up in that terrible situation.

The only thing that matters in this debate is bodily autonomy. Yes, of course there must be a safeguarding and approval process and in the UK at least the legalisation is not proposing opening euthanasia up to anyone who fancies it or “feels a burden”. If you don’t meet the criteria you won’t get it. But giving seriously ill and suffering people the right to choose when to die is the only humane solution. If the slippery slope argument is correct (and I don’t buy it) frankly it’s a risk worth taking.

I do agree support and care must also exist and needs improvement. But that can and should exist concurrently to giving people a choice to end their life.

I think you are missing the point that almost everyone who suffers that amount of trauma and acquires such severe physical disabilities WILL then suffer suicidal depression as a result. Most people would go into suicidal depression after just a fraction of what she went through.

The fact she had suffered so much in her short life makes it more likely that she was not in her right mind making this choice and required suicide prevention mental health care instead of her own physicians agreeing she is good for nothing but a human rubbish tip and signing off on euthanising her. All she needed was someone to see her and her life as worth living. I think that because she was a complex case, the physicians took the easy and cheaper way out.

Was anyone stopping her from making that choice to end her life, and doing so herself, though?

My issue (aside from how horrendously sad and unfair the situation and her suffering was), is simply that when someone is capable of ending their own life themselves, is it necessary and beneficial to normalise the state doing it for them?

Why would you shut this down? You are making no sense. What has this got to do with abortion?

Women have been saying this for years but since a man has said it, let’s all sit up and listen.

Can we all agree that abortion and putting pets to sleep are both not at all comparable to euthanasia? And that the topic of this thread, euthanasia, is one where all opinions from all humans count?

In my opinion yes, purely because it’s safer, in a controlled environment, and likely to feature less suffering during the process. And unlike self-enacted suicide it will work.

I'm a mother of two adult sons. I've never once thought that by discussing the harm caused to women by male patterned behaviour that those women were accusing my sons of being 'monsters in the making'. I've always understood perfectly that some men are monsters and that they pose a real and significant threat both to women and to other men, and made it my business to teach my sons this too.
I am happy to report both of my sons are in full agreement and wouldn't dream of interrupting a thread about bad men to point out they were good men. Nor would they expect women to do it on their behalf.

This was a young woman with a history of suicidal thoughts, ideation and attempts caused by serious trauma. We should not be making suicide easier for the suicidally depressed instead of helping them regain mental wellness with trauma therapy, disability assistance, and supported living.

Nor should we celebrate “bodily autonomy” in a way that indicates it is not only socially acceptable but in a way desirable for the physically disabled and mentally unwell to feel suicidal and to help them off themselves.

The thoughts of I can’t blame her she must have been suffering so much is rooted in ableism. Disabled people hear this all the time. I’d rather die than be incontinent and need someone to wipe my bum. Look at all the work done by Liz Carr on this topic.