Parliament passed a law on euthanasia

On Friday, parliament passed a law on euthanasia. The decree, vetoed by the President of the Republic on 19 April, was promulgated by PS, BE, IL and PAN. The SDP, PKP and Chega voted against.

The decree was confirmed by 129 votes in favour, 81 votes against and one abstention, and the results were announced by the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, at the end of the vote. The vast majority of MPs from PS, IL, BE, as well as representatives of PAN and Livre voted in favor.

According to the Constitution of the Republic, in the face of a veto, Parliament can approve the text with an absolute majority of 116 out of 230 current deputies. Now Marcelo Rebelo de Souza will have to publish the text within eight days.

The deputies adopted a resolution on this subject for the fifth time. This establishes that medically assisted death can only occur by euthanasia if assisted suicide is not possible due to the patient’s physical incapacity.

“Unpunished medically assisted death is death by decision of an older person, whose will is current and repeated, serious, free and clear, in a situation of great suffering, with final injury of extreme severity. severity or serious illness and are incurable if they are practiced or assisted by medical professionals,” the ruling says.

In this text, which is based on bills from PS, IL, BE, and PAN, “high-intensity suffering” is defined as “suffering resulting from a serious and incurable disease or irreversible injury of extreme severity, of great intensity, persistent, ongoing.” or permanent and is considered unbearable by the person himself.

The Decree also establishes a minimum period of two months from the start of the procedure for its implementation, while the provision of psychological support is also mandatory.

According to the text, “The Government approves the relevant regulations within 90 days after the publication of this law,” and the law enters into force 30 days “after the publication of the relevant regulations.”

It was the fourth diploma aimed at the decriminalization of violent death, which is to be submitted to Parliament. It has already been subject to two political vetoes by Marcelo Rebelo de Souza and two vetoes following an unconstitutionality ruled by the Constitutional Court.

What was at stake in the diploma’s latest veto was the “problem of accuracy”, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa pointed out. The head of state asked the deputies to clarify “who determines the patient’s physical inability to self-administer lethal drugs, and who should provide medical supervision when committing an act of violent death,” the letter to the Assembly says. Republic.

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

The PSD has already committed itself to “analyze the diploma with a view to formulating a request for a consistent review of constitutionality”, an appeal tool to the Constitutional Court, which, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, can be filed by a tenth of MPs, 23 out of 230.