It is the fourth time that Parliament approves law to legalise euthanasia
A new version of a law seeking to legalise euthanasia was approved in Parliament today (March 31) after being changed to address the demands of the Constitutional Court, which rejected it for a second time on January 30.
The proposal was approved with favourable votes from most PS MPs, Iniciativa Liberal, Bloco de Esquerda and PAN as well as six PSD MPs. One MP from PS and another from PSD abstained, while the remaining PSD MPs, five PS MPs, Chega and PCP voted against it.
The changes to law state that euthanasia can only be performed if assisted suicide is impossible due to a patient’s physical incapacity. All references to “physical, psychological and spiritual suffering” as conditions to be elligible have also been eliminated, as judges believed that this could lead to “many interpretations” and be “abused legally.”
PS MPs in favour of the law now believe that all obstacles preventing the law from being approved once and for all have been removed.
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