More than 600 days after requesting euthanasia, . Although medically assisted death has been legal in Spain since 2021, the young woman was forced to face her father in a long legal battle that ended up proving him right.
The case in the neighboring country received attention in Portugal, days after thousands of people demonstrated in an annual initiative against abortion and euthanasia.
Advances, setbacks and many doubts
The measure was voted and approved in Parliament and came to ber promulgated, but its regulation never advanced, preventing the law from come into force in Portugal.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was opposed and throughout his term he did his best to block the law with the help of who was called to speak three times. Adjustments were first requested – which the deputies agreed to – but in the last judgment the TC ended up making the process of legalizing euthanasia unfeasible.
So is euthanasia a crime in Portugal?
Technically, no. Although it is not admissible, nor is it possible to initiate a process as it occurs in a country where the measure is in force, as is the case in Spain, euthanasia is also not considered a crime in Portugal.
A lestablishes that medically assisted death is not punishable when “occurs by decision of the person himself, an adult, whose will is current and reiterated, serious, free and enlightened, in a situation of great intensity suffering, with definitive injury of extreme severity or serious and incurable illness, when practiced or helped by health professionals”.
What would the process be like if the enacted law were in force?
Despite the lack of regulation, the provides two modalities for medically assisted death: o medically assisted suicide and euthanasiaand the latter would only be admitted when medically assisted suicide was impossible due to the applicant’s physical incapacity.
The process would always begin with the patient’s own decision. – and never on the initiative of a family member, for example, as organizations against the measure often argue.
Once the order has been placed, would begin clinical procedure under the supervision of a doctor who would have to issue a reasoned opinion on whether the patient meets all the requirements: be of legal age, demonstrate a repeated, serious, free and informed will, and suffer from suffering of great intensity, with a definitive injury of extreme severity or a serious and incurable illness.
If the supervising doctor gave a negative opinion (if, for example, he indicated that treatment was possible), the procedure would be terminated.
If a favorable opinion was issued, the supervising doctor would still have to consult a doctor specialized in the pathology in question, to obtain a new opinion that confirms the necessary conditions. The opinion of the Verification and Evaluation Committee would then follow, and the evaluation of a specialist in psychiatry may also be requested.
Once this process has been completed, with all favorable opinions and the patient’s expressed and reiterated wishes, the advising physician would schedule the date for medically assisted death. On the same day, the patient would have to ensure again that he remained willing to request euthanasiabefore the doctor and one or more witnesses.
If, at any time during the process, the patient wanted to give up, the procedure would be cancelled. The same would happen if the patient became “unconscious before the date scheduled for the procedure”.
The first projects
Between 2017 and the beginning of 2018, the first bills were presented in the Assembly of the Republic by the PS, Bloco de Esquerda, PAN and PEV, but none got the votes needed to pass.
Diplomas approved for the first time
The work was interrupted by a popular initiative, fromsigned by more than 95 thousand people, to hold a referendum, but the proposal ended up rejected.
The final global vote took place in January 2021, when was approved with favorable votes from a large part of the PS bench, BE, PAN, PEV, IL and 14 PSD deputies and votes against from the CDS, Chega and PCP.
TC leads and Marcelo’s vetoes
On February 18, 2021, the President of the Republic requested the TC to carry out preventive inspection of the constitutionality of the diplomaarguing that it used “highly indeterminate” concepts to define the criteria for the legal practice of euthanasia, such as “intolerable suffering” and “definite injury of extreme severity”.
The TC ruled in favor of the head of state and declared the law, due to “insufficient normative density”. The President of the Republic vetoed the diploma and returned it to Parliament.
Early elections in January 2022 ushered in a new legislature and the process resumed. PS, BE, PAN and IL once again moved forward with projects that were generally approved in June.
The President of the Republic sent the diploma again to the TC and for the second time the judges from Palácio Ratton returned. O diploma was vetoed and returned back to Parliament.
The fourth attempt introduces the concept of “assisted suicide” and the concept of “suffering” is redefined. in a final global vote, with votes in favor from the majority of the PS, IL, BE, six PSD deputies and the single PAN and Livre deputies.
Costa ‘passed the ball’ to the next government
The law established that the regulation should be approved by the Government within 90 days after publication in the Official Gazette for the decriminalization of medically assisted death to come into force 30 days later, something that never happened.
In this scenario, the PS government decided to include the issue in the transition dossier for the next executivewhich would be led by Luís Montenegro, from the PSD, and integrated by the CDS-PP.
More voices are raised against
When will we discuss euthanasia again?
Several jurists consider the process currently underway to be unfeasible, arguing that Parliament will have to approve a law instead of regulating the one that was approved and successively called into question in the past.
Thus, it is most likely that the discussion will be postponed at least until the end of this legislature. The right-wing majority does not intend to reopen the process (AD and Chega are both against) and on the left, even adding the votes of the Liberal Initiative, which has always defended the legalization of euthanasia, there are not enough deputies to approve a new law.
Luís Montenegro said he was at wait for the TC’s conclusions on successive inspection requests before taking any action.
