Portugal parliament votes again in favour of euthanasia

Portugal’s parliament on Friday passed a bill decriminalising euthanasia for the third time, after the two previous attempts were vetoed by conservative president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

The bill, which would decriminalise “medically-assisted death”, was approved thanks to votes from the Socialist party, which enjoys an absolute majority in parliament, as well as a few votes from the opposition.

Portugal’s president will now have to decide whether to sign the bill into law, submit it to the constitutional court for further analysis, or veto it once again.

The president said Thursday that he intended to decide soon, “certainly before Christmas”.

This bill shows that “the right to life cannot be turned into an obligation to live under any circumstances,” said Socialist lawmaker Isabel Moreira, who championed the bill.

But the Catholic Doctors’ Association, which opposes the move, said the bill “brings Portugal closer to more permissive legislation”.

The bill approved on Friday notes that medically-assisted death would be reserved for adults suffering from “serious and incurable illness” and who have made a “reiterated” and “free and informed” personal decision.

When the previous bill was passed in January 2021, the president, who is a staunch Catholic, handed it over to the constitutional court. The court sent it back for possible amendments, but the president decided to exercise his veto.

At the time, he said the text contained definitions that were too vague.

Belgium and the Netherlands were the first two European countries to legalise euthanasia two decades ago. It has since been decriminalised in a handful of European countries.