We received a report from our friends in Portugal that yesterday (May 29, 2018) the Portuguese Parliament rejected four proposals to legalise euthanasia by a narrow margin of 5 votes (110 to 115 against). It will not be possible to present another bill till 2019. Paulo Santos from Direito a Morrer com Dignidad: “ I am convinced that in the coming elections of 2019 this topic will be discussed in the campaign and probably in 2020 or 2021 the parliament will vote favourably a bill that will make assisted death legal in Portugal. We have a long way to go, but the discussion of assisted death in my country has reached a point of no return. I do believe that the Portuguese association right to die, Direito a Morrer com Dignidade, has played a key role in this process following the launch of our manifesto in January of 2016″.
Catarina Martins, the leader of the Left Bloc – which is a government ally in parliament, told the Reuters news agency that although the vote had failed “the issue is now firmly on the political agenda, it is now in detailed debate in society.”
Portugal