(LifeSiteNews) — The Trump administration has directed its embassy in Spain to investigate how the tragic euthanasia death of a 25-year-old gang rape victim was allowed to happen.
The New York Post obtained a State Department cable that tasked the U.S. Embassy in Madrid with determining how Spanish authorities handled multiple instances of sexual assault against Noelia Castillo, who ended her life via euthanasia last week. In 2022, she survived an attempt to kill herself by jumping out of a five-story building that left her paralyzed from the waist down.
“I want to go now and stop suffering, period. None of my family is in favor of euthanasia. But what about all the pain I’ve suffered during all these years?” Castillo told Antena 3’s Y Ahora Sonsoles, according to U.K. broadcaster Leading Britain’s Conversation (LBC).
According to the cable, U.S. officials should tell the Spanish government that the administration has “serious concerns” with “many systemic human rights failures” preceding her death. The cable referenced “allegations that Ms. Castillo was repeatedly sexually assaulted while under state care” and that she reportedly “expressed hesitancy to undergo euthanasia in her final hours.”
The State Department also raised concern over Spain’s permissive attitude toward migrants, based on allegations that the perpetrators, who remain at large, were “of a migration background.”
“Mass and illegal migration is a human rights concern, and Spain’s facilitation of mass and illegal migration represents a dangerous threat to the rights and liberties of Spanish citizens, as well as broader regional and global security,” the cable read.
The Spanish government does not appear to be taking the message kindly. In a Wednesday X post, Spanish Health Minister Mónica García told President Trump to “stop sticking his nose into every single place.”
“In the United States, thousands of people die each year without health insurance, while Trump supports and carries out human rights violations between Gaza and Iran,” García wrote.
“Spain is a serious country, with a solid healthcare system and a rights framework that protects and cares for all people, including those who choose to request help to die with dignity in legally regulated contexts, evaluated by clinical committees and endorsed by the courts.”
Castillo’s euthanasia was allowed to proceed last month after her father failed to win his months-long legal battle to save her life. Spain legalized euthanasia in 2021 for adult individuals suffering from a “serious, chronic and disabling condition” or “incurable disease.”
However, the Catholic Church rejects all forms of euthanasia and assisted suicide as “morally unacceptable.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator.”
