Eight years after the petition that started the debate was submitted to parliament, more than three years after the start of the current legislative process, the decriminalization of medically assisted death is about to become a reality. The theme goes into the plenary session of the Assembly of the Republic this Friday – for the fifth time – and with the reaffirmation of the text, this promises to be the final vote. Two failures in the Constitutional Court (TC) and two political vetoes later, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is this time obliged to vote.
PS, Bloco de Esquerda, Iniciativa Liberal and PAN, the four parties at the cradle of the diploma, unanimously declared for the reaffirmation of the text, following the second political veto by the President of the Republic in April. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa then invoked a lack of clarity in the text as to who defines a patient’s physical inability to self-administer lethal drugs after delegates amended the diploma to establish the primacy of medically assisted suicide over euthanasia. set. A problem of “precision”, in the words of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and no more doubts about constitutionality. The President of the Republic also made it clear that, in a scenario of reconfirmation of the diploma, he will have nothing to oppose: “That’s life, there is no drama”.
According to the Constitution, the head of state is obliged to proclaim the diploma within eight days of receipt if the same text is confirmed by the absolute majority of the deputies in office (116 out of 230). Some constitutionalists have hypothesized that the president of the republic could invoke “conscientious objection” – this was the case with Paulo Otero and yesterday in an interview with Radio Renascenca/Publico, by Jorge Bacelar Gouveia – but the words of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa never pointed in that direction. Catholic practicing, opposed to the decriminalization of medically assisted death, Marcelo always assured that he would not use the veto as an “affirmation of personal views”.
Even with approval in sight – the parliamentary leader of the PS, Eurico Brilhante Dias, reiterated yesterday that the PS will reconfirm the diploma – the road of decriminalization of medically assisted death, namely with regard to the constitutionality of the text, must not stop here . Luís Montenegro returned yesterday to admit that a group of PSD deputies can submit a request for subsequent inspection of the diploma to the TC. “It is a possibility that could be worthwhile, also for the safety and legal certainty in our system,” the Social Democratic president referred. Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, parliamentary leader, also said yesterday that he will sign a request for sequential inspection if a group of party deputies come forward, but insisted that the request to the TC will not be made officially by the parliamentary group. In contrast to the preventive inspection, the successive inspection has no deadlines for evaluation and does not suspend the implementation of the law. Remember that the social-democratic bank has the freedom to vote and some delegates have voted for the different diplomas.
The theme has been in parliament for three terms
The parliamentary discussion on death by medical aid started three parliamentary terms ago, after the handing over to the Assembly of the Republic of a petition with 8400 signatures calling for the decriminalization of euthanasia, following a manifesto of the civil movement “Right to Die with Dignity”. But the issue would not be put to a vote until May 2018. Although all projects were then rejected, the PS was five votes away from approval and a new round was promised for the next legislature.
The decriminalization of medically assisted death would be widely approved for the first time in early 2020. It was the beginning of the current legislative process: three years and three months back and forth between the Assembly of the Republic, the São Bento Palace and the Ratton Palace, the headquarters of the TC.
Even if Marcelo has already assured that “there is no drama” in the reaffirmation, and if this is a scenario that does not allow the President of the Republic to be associated with the diploma, given that he requires it by law, this outcome ends at a particularly tense moment in relations between the President of the Republic and the Socialists. And it still forms a collision that, while not unprecedented, is quite rare. According to data from the Assembly of the Republic, forwarded to the Lusa bureau since 1979 deputies confirmed laws vetoed by Belém 14 times, forcing the head of state to enact them. Ramalho Eanes, Mário Soares and Cavaco Silva faced this situation four times (one each), while Jorge Sampaio only had to play it once. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has also seen a reconfirmed diploma, in 2021, about changes to the local economy support program rules, a far cry from the weight and scope of legislation that will decriminalize death medical assistance in Portugal.
Source: DN
