News of the Portuguese parliament’s passage of a euthanasia bill was included in the November 6th Medical Futility Blog, mentioning that new language was deemed more precise than a previous version that had failed constitutional standards. Interestingly, the blog did not reveal the actual content of the new bill and linked only to a non-English article about it. Fortunately, a quick Google search led to an article quoting the details left out. It’s not surprising that some might want to hide this direct targeting of disabled people:
Rephrasing the ‘imprecise’
The rephrasing of the bill clarified the “imprecise” definition for when euthanasia would be possible after the Constitutional Court found that the bill’s previous reference to “a definitive injury of extreme seriousness in accordance with scientific consensus” lacked “indispensable rigor.”
The new version of the bill, which passed Friday, said euthanasia could be possible in cases of “serious injury, definitive and amply disabling, which makes a person dependent on others or on technology to undertake elementary tasks of daily life,” and where there is “very high certainty or probability that such limitations endure over time without the possibility of cure or significant improvement.” https://www.dw.com/en/portugals-parliament-approves-euthanasia-bill/a-59734995
President Marcelo de Sousa must still sign the bill for it to become law and is said to have reservations about euthanasia. Messages can be sent to him via his website, urging him to again refer this to the Constitutional Court. This time, the problem is not so much “precision” but rather disability discrimination. BTW, Portugal is one of the 162 States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The President’s English language message form is here. [H/T Euthanasia Prevention Coalition]
The Associated Press reported Nov. 30, 2021 that Portugal’s President Sousa vetoed the revised euthanasia/assisted suicide bill:
Whereas the original bill required “fatal disease” as a pre-requisite, the president’s argument followed, the renewed version mentions “incurable” or “serious” disease in some of its formulation. No longer considering that patients need to be terminally ill means, in De Sousa’s opinion, “a considerable change of weighing the values of life and free self-determination in the context of Portuguese society.”
By returning the bill to lawmakers, De Sousa is effectively delaying any progress until a new parliament is chosen in a snap election scheduled for Jan. 30. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/portugals-president-vetoes-2nd-version-of-euthanasia-bill/2021/11/30/5ca112b8-51c5-11ec-83d2-d9dab0e23b7e_story.html