Socialist deputy Isabel Moreira believed on Monday that the designation of the Constitutional Court to the euthanasia law is a semantic problem.
“Most of the arguments of the President of the Republic failed, namely whether the concept of an incurable disease was constitutional. As far as I understand, the decision was 7-6, with one vote. The Constitutional Court wants us to explain what to us is quite explicit, whether it’s cumulative or not, but we have to respect it and we’re going to change it. There’s a semantic problem here that was enough for the Constitutional Court. The ‘e’ means ‘and’, it doesn’t mean ‘ or’, I believe [que a lei vai ser promulgada]. The law has been passed by the Assembly of the Republic, the President of the Republic and the Constitutional Court, but now returns to the Assembly of the Republic. The Constitutional Court does not deal with the concept of an incurable disease, it only speaks of doubts about suffering”he said in the Assembly of the Republic.
João Cotrim Figueiredo, of the Liberal Initiative, shares a similar view. “The Liberal initiative reaffirms that Article 24 is not affected. Of the various matters raised by the President of the Republic with the Assembly of the Republic, only one was questioned. Assembly of the Republic, we will be here to reformulate the text”he said, even before Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced that he would return the diploma to parliament.
Paulo Muacho, from Livre, also hopes that “a new interpretation of the law can be approved that will remove the doubts of the Constitutional Court”.
PSD and Chega have a different opinion, pushing for a referendum on euthanasia. “This is a matter of enormous sensitivity and great care in how it should be regulated. Life is the most important value enshrined in our constitution. We continue to defend that this issue should be subject to a referendum. The PSD regrets that the country has not yet been consulted on this. We will ask for a referendum again as soon as possible”defended the Social Democratic deputy Joaquim Miranda Sarmento.
More threatening is André Ventura, who recalls that referenda have already been held on termination of pregnancy and regionalization and accused the government of “political haste”. “The drafters of the law are always the same. Chega warned that this process is unconstitutional. The conceptual lack of definition when it comes to life and death is a very serious matter. The process will have to be restarted in the Assembly of the Republic and done in the utmost consensus. This process can only be resolved with a referendum, a direct participation of Portuguese citizens. We have twice approved termination of pregnancy, regionalization… what are the government and the left afraid of? We must stop the process here and give the Portuguese the floor. It has the advantage that the Constitutional Court ratifies the decision and there is a debate. We will not go there with pressure and political haste.”creased.
The PCP, on the other hand, said it hoped that the authors of the euthanasia diploma would “think” about a law that “raises a number of concerns”.
“It was important for the authors of this law to reflect on a proposal they have made that raises a number of concerns, which we have expressed, although we have not raised the issue from a constitutional point of view, we have calmly waited for the decision of the Constitutional Court”, PCP Central Committee member António Filipe said in statements to journalists in Beja, where the party’s parliamentary days take place.
The former deputy of the Assembly of the Republic – who followed the legislative process on euthanasia in the last legislature – said the PCP registers the decision of the Constitutional Court, which declared the medically assisted death certificate unconstitutional.
“This decision has been made and what is important to say is that it is important not to waste time on fundamental issues, which are strengthening the National Health Service, creating conditions for people who are suffering to have access to all palliative care to which they are entitled and also to prevent practices of therapeutic obstinacy,” he stressed.
As for Livre, he asked parliament to quickly pass “a new version of the law”, answering doubts based on the TC’s “lead”.
In parliament, Livre’s contact Pedro Muacho said that the party “respects the decision” of the judges and emphasizes “as a positive point” that the TC has “completely dispelled the doubt” whether any law in this area would violate the Constitution . Without prejudice to more calmly analyze the arguments of the TC, it seems a matter of clarity and Livre will strive in parliament to clarify all doubts so that we can face a law that has legal certainty and no uncertainty of any kind with people about legislation and its applicability”he claimed.
The leader of Livre also expressed the wish that “a new version of the law can be quickly approved in parliament that removes the doubts raised by the TC”.
Source: DN
