Parliament today approved the euthanasia decree, forcing it into effect.

Parliament is due to approve this Friday a decree vetoed by the President of the Republic on medically assisted death, an intention announced by PS, BE, IL and PAN, forcing it to be made public.

According to the Constitution of the Republic, with the right of veto, Parliament can approve the text by an absolute majority of 116 out of 230 current deputies, in which case the President of the Republic will have to promulgate the text. diploma within eight days of receiving it.

This is the fourth parliamentary bill to decriminalize physician-assisted death and amend the Criminal Code. The issue has already been subject to two political vetoes by the head of state and two vetoes following unconstitutional rulings by the Constitutional Court.

The latest veto took place on April 19, when Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa asked MPs to clarify “who determines the patient’s physical inability to self-administer lethal drugs, and who should provide medical supervision during the act of death with medical assistance,” the letter says. which the head of state sent to Parliament.

Speaking to reporters, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza dispelled doubts about the constitutionality of the decree, saying that he vetoed it because of a “problem of accuracy” and believes that its confirmation “has no drama.”

This time, in contrast to previous cases, the proposing parties (PS, IL, BE and PAN) have decided not to change the text approved on March 31, which in this version establishes that medically assisted death can only occur by euthanasia if euthanasia is not possible . due to the physical incapacity of the patient.

PS deputies Pedro Segonho, Maria Joao Castro and Romualda Fernandez, who were previously against diplomas decriminalizing euthanasia, will vote this Friday to confirm the decree vetoed by the President of the Republic.

Parliament leader Joaquim Miranda Sarmento said at a SDP bench meeting on Thursday that he would sign a demand for consistent verification of a diploma regulating euthanasia if a group of Social Democrats nominated, adding that this would not be done. in a safe way. official on the bench.

Later in Leiria, SDP leader Luis Montenegro stated that the request for a consistent review of the euthanasia decree was a worthy opportunity “to have security and legal certainty”.

On March 31, the same text, which will again go to the vote, was approved by a majority vote of the PS bench, the Liberal Initiative, the Left Bloc, six MPs from the PSD and individual MPs from PAN and Livre.

The majority of deputies from the SDP, Chega, PKP and five deputies of the PS voted against him. Two abstained, one Socialist deputy and one Social Democrat.

When the first legislative initiatives on this matter appeared, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, a practicing Catholic, defended a long and wide public discussion, but he excluded himself from the discussion, attributing his role to the completion of the parliamentary legislative process.