The only thing missing is a presidential decision to decriminalize (or not) medically assisted death. The remaining step to send it to Belém was taken this Wednesday in the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees, with deputies deciding on the final wording of the text.
In the committee – chaired by Fernando Negrão (PSD) – the deputy Isabel Moreira (PS) was the only representative who intervened and proposed an amendment to number five of article 4 of the decree regarding the opening of the clinical procedure, according to de that “medical assistance in the event of death cannot take place without a period of two months from the date of the request to open the procedure”. For Isabel Moreira, it should currently say “60 days” instead of two months, to reach consensus in the text, as the deadlines set are indicated in “working days”. The amendment proposed by the Socialist Member failed to find consensus and therefore the text remained unchanged.
Now that the text has been finalized, it must be published in the Official Journal of the Assembly of the Republic, according to Article 156 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Republic. However, there is then a period of three working days within which any member of parliament can submit “complaints about inaccuracies” in the text. If complaints are received during this period, it is for the President of the Assembly of the Republic to pronounce, with 24 hours in which to do so, “the complaining deputies may appeal to the plenary or to the Permanent Commission to the meeting immediately after the announcement of the decision”, need the text.
Only when this whole process has been completed – if no complaints have been received or if they have already been incorporated into the diploma – is the text considered final and then forwarded to the President of the Republic. This therefore means that the text will not arrive in Belém until after Christmas, and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa can then choose to issue the document, veto it or send it to the Constitutional Court (TC) for pre-emptive request inspection of the document – if he chooses the latter, the head of state must do so eight days after receipt of the diploma.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, remember, already vetoed the diploma, when he asked for clarification on “contradictions in the diploma regarding one of the causes of resorting to medically assisted death”. This time, the President of the Republic has not yet commented on what his decision will be, preferring to wait before reading the diploma issued by the Assembly of the Republic. What is certain is that he has already promised to be quick in the decision.
Source: DN
