Portugal Will Now Allow Euthanasia For People With Terminal Illnesses And In Extreme Suffering
Under the new law, people over 18 can request assistance in dying if they suffering from “lasting” and “unbearable” pain.
Portugal will now allow euthanasia for people with terminal illnesses and in extreme suffering.
Under the new law, people over 18 can request assistance in dying if they suffering from “lasting” and “unbearable” pain.
Patients must be citizens or legal residents of Portugal and be mentally fit to make the decision.
Portugal is deeply Catholic, and the bill kept being sent back for review by the conservative president even though he passed the parliament four times in the last three years.
However, opinion polls had shown that the majority of people in the county were in favor of euthanasia in cases of suffering.
On Friday May 12, the parliament voted to pass the law with a majority of 129 votes to 81.
“We are confirming a law that has already been approved several times by a huge majority,” MP Isabel Moreira who has pushed for the law, said after the bill passed.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa signed the bill into law a week after on Friday May 19, after he ran out of vetos.
Portugal has now become the sixth European Union country to allow the procedure.
In March 2021, nearby Spain become the fifth country in the world to approve a law to legalize euthanasia.
