LISBON — Portugals parliament on Thursday approved a bill to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, setting the country on course to join the handful of nations that allow mercy killing.
However, the legislation requires a second vote and opponents — who protested outside the parliament — are hoping to thwart the process by pushing for a referendum and challenges in the Constitutional Court.
The Portuguese vote follows a similar move last week in the lower house of the Spanish parliament. In both countries, the issue has provoked an impassioned debate.
“Assisting a peaceful death and ending useless suffering is a humane and deeply moral position,” said Isabel Moreira, of the governing Socialist Party. “To pursue as criminals those who help patients with incurable diseases is an affirmation of intolerance.”
Portuguese lawmakers voted in favor of separate bills presented by the Socialists and four smaller parties. All would allow euthanasia and assisted suicide for adults in sound mental health with incurable medical conditions and prolonged and extreme suffering. Patients requests to end their lives would need to be submitted at least twice and with the approval of at least two doctors.
“Life is a right, but it should not be an obligation to live with appalling suffering,” said Moisés Ferreira of the Left Bloc. “This is not about killing … its about help and empathy for the suffering of others.”
In 2018, an attempt to legalize euthanasia was defeated by five votes in the Assembleia da República. Elections in October, which returned the Socialist government of Prime Minister António Costa to power, changed the parliamentary arithmetic in favor of the right-to-die camp.
The Socialist proposal won most votes with 127 votes in favor, 86 against and 10 abstentions.
However, the vote cut across left-right divisions.
The Portuguese Communist Party joined conservative and far-right lawmakers in opposing the measure, which was supported by the Left Bloc, ecologist and animal-rights parties, plus a small center-right party.
“We still have time to avoid decisions whose social and human consequences well regret in the future,” said Communist member António Filipe, who urged greater investment in palliative care in the public health system. “A decent country cannot oblige its citizens to choose between suffering and death.”
The Socialists and the main center-right opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) gave their lawmakers a free vote. All but a handful the 108 Socialist lawmakers backed their partys bill and a half dozen of the 79 PSD deputies — including party leader Rui Rio — voted for legalization.
Further debate and a second vote will be needed before the bill becomes law. Opponents, including the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, are calling for a referendum to head off the laws final approval.
LISBON — Portugals parliament on Thursday approved a bill to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, setting the country on course to join the handful of nations that allow mercy killing.
However, the legislation requires a second vote and opponents — who protested outside the parliament — are hoping to thwart the process by pushing for a referendum and challenges in the Constitutional Court.
The Portuguese vote follows a similar move last week in the lower house of the Spanish parliament. In both countries, the issue has provoked an impassioned debate.
“Assisting a peaceful death and ending useless suffering is a humane and deeply moral position,” said Isabel Moreira, of the governing Socialist Party. “To pursue as criminals those who help patients with incurable diseases is an affirmation of intolerance.”
Portuguese lawmakers voted in favor of separate bills presented by the Socialists and four smaller parties. All would allow euthanasia and assisted suicide for adults in sound mental health with incurable medical conditions and prolonged and extreme suffering. Patients requests to end their lives would need to be submitted at least twice and with the approval of at least two doctors.
“Life is a right, but it should not be an obligation to live with appalling suffering,” said Moisés Ferreira of the Left Bloc. “This is not about killing … its about help and empathy for the suffering of others.”
In 2018, an attempt to legalize euthanasia was defeated by five votes in the Assembleia da República. Elections in October, which returned the Socialist government of Prime Minister António Costa to power, changed the parliamentary arithmetic in favor of the right-to-die camp.
The Socialist proposal won most votes with 127 votes in favor, 86 against and 10 abstentions.
However, the vote cut across left-right divisions.
The Portuguese Communist Party joined conservative and far-right lawmakers in opposing the measure, which was supported by the Left Bloc, ecologist and animal-rights parties, plus a small center-right party.
“We still have time to avoid decisions whose social and human consequences well regret in the future,” said Communist member António Filipe, who urged greater investment in palliative care in the public health system. “A decent country cannot oblige its citizens to choose between suffering and death.”
The Socialists and the main center-right opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) gave their lawmakers a free vote. All but a handful the 108 Socialist lawmakers backed their partys bill and a half dozen of the 79 PSD deputies — including party leader Rui Rio — voted for legalization.
Further debate and a second vote will be needed before the bill becomes law. Opponents, including the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, are calling for a referendum to head off the laws final approval.
