The legislation "responds to a social request and includes guarantees," he assured Ministry of Health in his announcement.
Spain became the fourth European country to decriminalize euthanasia, after the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The bill was a priority for the government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and was adopted in March by parliament.
The law allows euthanasia -when a therapist causes his death patient- as well as medically assisted suicide - when the patient receives one alone dosage of preparation prescribed to him to die.
He predicts that anyone "suffering from a serious and incurable disease" or having "chronic pain that renders him incapacitated" can seek the help of a doctor to die and thus avoid "unbearable pain".
However, the law also contains strict conditions: the person, a Spaniard or a resident of Spain, must be "fully conscious" when making the decision to die, while his request must be made in writing "Without external pressure" and repeated 15 days later.
The doctor may reject the request if he / she considers that the criteria are not met or that the patient has not full consciousness.
In addition the request must be approved by a second doctor and receive the green light from commission.
The law divides public opinion in Spain and has provoked opposition from right-wing and universal church.
The People's Party, the main opposition party, filed a lawsuit against the law in the Constitutional Court.