HE portuguese parliament approved its decriminalization this Friday euthanasia the final political veto of the conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the Portuguese president, and denial of rightthreatens to file an appeal before the Constitutional Court, which will not paralyze the implementation of the norm.
It’s been almost six years since the House first discussed the issue, and they several versions of the law are required To overcome four attempts by Rebelo de Sousa to overturn the proposal: two political vetoes and two due to legal issues in the Constitutional Court.
Finally the law was approved today. 129 votes from the socialist ranksThe Left Bloc, which has an absolute majority in the parliament, the livestock farmers, Livre and Iniciativa Liberal are the only right-wing parties to join the initiative. 81 votes against the Communist Party, the conservative Social Democratic Party and the far-right Chega, excluding support from the left. Both the Socialists and the PSD gave their MPs freedom to vote, and as a result, 4 of the PS voted against and eight of the Conservatives in favor.
HE Presidential veto does not prevent the law from being enacted As socialist MP Isabel Moreira explained to Efe, the Constitution states that despite a presidential veto, it can go ahead with a majority of more than 116 deputies. Rebelo de Sousa, a practicing Catholic, now has eight days to enact the law. The president wanted to avoid speculation by ensuring that his final veto answered a “certainty” rather than a question of unconstitutionality. “no drama” with your confirmation.
But the PSD and Chega threaten to appeal to the Constitutional Court—though the procedure will not paralyze enforcement of regulations—and are determined to call for a referendum.
on the street, 61% of Portuguese support decriminalization of euthanasiaAccording to a survey conducted by Aximage for various Portuguese media in February, this figure rises to 70% in the 18 to 35 age group.
six years of debate
Thus, Portugal joins other European neighbours, such as Spain or Belgium, after going through a process that took six years. three socialist legislatures and it required five votes at the General Assembly of the Parliament. “No country has discussed so many guarantees, so many details, so many procedures for so many years as Portugal,” says Isabel Moreira, convinced that the text approved today is “very guaranteeing”.
In this long process, the TGNA reformulated its content to exceed each veto, but approved the final statement after eliminating constitutionality issues.The law has all legitimacy keep going”, defended Left Bloc’s Catarina Martins today.
Assisted suicide preference
The approved text defines medical-assisted death as “occurring.” by his own decision“applies to adults showing,”Suffering of great intensity with certain injury from extreme gravity or serious and incurable illness‘ and ‘when administered or assisted by a healthcare professional’.
It gives priority to assisted suicide and can be applied to patients who are physically unable to do it on their own. It also limits the procedure to Portuguese citizens or residents.
The President now has eight days to promulgate the law, which will take effect the day after it is published in the Diario de la República.