Its president Portugalthe conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Souza, ratified yesterday Tuesday (16/5) the law that decriminalizes euthanasiafollowing its approval by parliament last week following a painstaking, multi-year legislative process.
“The President of the Republic ratified the decree as he was obliged” by the Constitution of the Iberian Statethe presidency explained in a press release published last night.
The final version of the “medically assisted death” law was approved on Friday by the Assembleia da República in Lisbon: 129 members of the Portuguese national delegation voted in favor, against 81 who voted against (out of a total of 230 seats).. The ruling Socialist Party (PS) was in favor.
“The Constitution obliges the president to ratify a vetoed law if it is re-approved by parliament. I will ratify him, of course, it is my constitutional duty,” Mr. Rebelo de Souza clarified after the vote.
The first four attempts to pass the law were unsuccessful, due to vetoes by President Rebelo de Souza, a deeply religious Catholicand objections raised by the Constitutional Court.
To overcome the head of state’s veto, the PS decided to put the final version of the text to a vote for a second time.
The draft law had been amended repeatedly, to take into account comments from the president, who twice vetoed it, and the Constitutional Court, which also twice claimed to change the text to remove “ambiguities” and “inaccuracies”.
The final text provides that euthanasia is permitted in cases where “medically assisted suicide is impossible due to the patient’s physical incapacity”.
By virtue of the Constitution, the head of state was obliged to approve the bill within eight days after it was delivered to the presidency.
Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s center-left government tabled the original text in Portugal’s parliament three years ago. At the time, most MPs from the main opposition, the center-right PSD party, as well as many parliamentarians from the far-right populist party Chega, opposed decriminalization, despite the strict conditions that were stipulated.
Mr Costa’s Socialist Party has repeatedly stressed that the aim was to give “freedom and dignity” to people who are suffering, in extreme pain due to illness, and want to end their lives.
The opposition had demanded a referendum in the country, where most residents are devout Catholics.
Source: News Beast
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