[The Constitutional Court's exclusion of individuals with mental illness from access to euthanasia: Reflections on...

In 2023, the Constitutional Court addressed the debate concerning the negative dimension of the right to life that is, whether an individual may request assistance from the State to die. The Court held that the recognition of such a right is not incompatible with the right to life enshrined in Article 15 of the Spanish Constitution. However, the Court also clarified that this right is not of a general nature, but rather must be situated within a specific context: the context of euthanasia. This context is characterized by the presence of physical or psychological suffering, which must, in any case, occur within the framework of a somatic illness.