The judges ruled that the text was not in accordance with the Constitution
The Constitutional Court of Portugal rejected today, for the second time, the law decriminalizing euthanasia in the country, citing “unacceptable ambiguity” in its provisions. The bill now returns to Parliament, which has been trying for three years to draft and pass the relevant law.
The judges ruled that the text was not in line with the Constitution because it did not precisely define “extreme pain” that paves the way for the patient’s “medically assisted death,” they said in a statement read to reporters.
The same Court had also rejected the law in March 2021, considering that the terms used in the text were “excessively imprecise”.
The Parliament can reformulate the text and submit it again for approval to the President of the Republic, the conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Souza, who appealed in early January to the Constitutional Court. Lawmakers first voted to decriminalize euthanasia in February 2020 but the law ran into objections from the President, a devout Catholic and former law professor, who had vetoed an earlier version of the law.
Socialist MP Isabel Moreira commented on the decision of the Constitutional Court saying that it was based on a “technical detail” and that “most of the arguments of the President of the Republic were not accepted”. “If it’s about correcting a word, we’re here to do it,” he said.
Few European countries, such as Belgium and the Netherlands, have legalized euthanasia to date.
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
