“I am convinced that this issue will remain controversial,” the Social Democratic leader told journalists, justifying the decision to put forward a draft resolution in parliament to hold a referendum on euthanasia.
In the week when the parties’ projects were being prepared to be voted in the specialty (after several postponements), Luís Montenegro stated that he believes that the Portuguese are “not yet sufficiently informed” about the issue. Which, he says, would be possible through the plebiscite, as it would allow discussion between who is for and against medically assisted death.
However, Luís Montenegro admitted that “there was a maturation process” of the legislation in parliament – this after the president of the republic vetoed the first draft of the law – but defended that the vote on the new diploma should be suspended until verdict popular.
“We hope that the Assembly of the Republic can take a decision in terms of holding a referendum and leave the final approval pending the approval of the Portuguese,” he said, admitting that the PS, which is a absolute majority, “has the freedom to decide what it understands about holding the referendum”.
Montenegro admitted to having “many doubts” about euthanasia, mainly because of his family background.
This PSD decision was taken after the meeting of the party’s Permanent Committee, which according to the PSD leader fully agreed with the referendum decision. And it ultimately aligns with the motion passed at the 2020 PSD Congress for the party to develop “all political, institutional and legislative steps with a view to holding a plebiscite”.
Motion ignored by Rui Rio’s leadership, even earning him a complaint to the party’s National Jurisdiction Council. The then leader of the PSD gave the deputies the freedom to vote in the first version of the diploma approved by parliament, after even voting for it.
Without the agreement of the PS and if there is no further delay, as Luís Montenegro has now requested, Parliament will be able to approve the decriminalization of assisted death at the end of the plenary session on 9 December. What should be done as the chairman of the PS group, Eurico Brilhante Dias, stressed that medically assisted death “is an issue that the PS group has said it will give priority”.
In May this year, parliament rejected a draft resolution from Chega calling for a referendum on the same issue.
Belém’s projects and restraint
The PS bill, presented at the beginning of the month, proposes the decriminalization of medically assisted death in situations of “extremely serious final injury” and “serious and incurable illness”, removing the requirement of “mortal illness” .
The BE also introduced its bill on the first day of the XV legislature, in which it uses the same phrase: “serious and incurable disease”. The PAN has already indicated that it will proceed on its own initiative and that it agrees with this criterion.
In the previous legislature, the decriminalization under certain conditions of medically assisted death, amendment of the Penal Code, received a large majority in parliament, but clashed with the Constitutional Court, after a request for supervision by the President of the Republic , and then a political veto .
The two parliamentary decrees on this issue received the support of most of the PS and BE, PAN, PEV, IL and some PSD deputies, including the president, Rui Rio, and were opposed by the majority of the social democrats, some socialists, PCP. , CDS-PP and Chega.
The second version of the decree, approved on November 5, 2021, had the following wording of the conditions for the legal practice of medically assisted death: “By decision of the adult person himself, whose will is current and repeated, serious, free and clear, in a situation of excruciating suffering, with final injury of extreme seriousness or incurable and fatal disease, when practiced or aided by health professionals”.
However, in other parts of the decree, instead of “incurable and fatal disease”, for the first time appeared the phrase “serious or incurable disease”, which was defined in one of the standards as “a serious disease”. which threatens life, in an advanced and progressive, incurable and irreversible stage, which causes suffering of great intensity”.
The President of the Republic vetoed this decree on Nov. 26, highlighting that the new text used different expressions in defining the type of illnesses required, defending that the legislature had to choose between “any serious illness,” grave and incurable disease” and the “incurable and fatal disease”.
With Lusa
Source: DN
