Portugal close to becoming 4th European country with euthanasia law
On February 20, five bills about euthanasia are approved by the Portugese Parliament. The content of the bills Euthanasia becomes possible in the case of
February 23, 2020
Portugal
Legal situation
In short
In Portugal, euthanasia and assisted suicide are both forbidden by the Portugese Penal Code.
In 2023 a bill about medical assisted dying was approved by Portugese parliament and finally was given the signature of the Portugese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Penal Code
Article 134 of the Penal Code forbids murder at request (euthanasia).
The punishment for it is up to three years.
Also an attempt is punishable.
Article 135 of the Penal Code forbids assisted suicide.
The punishment for it is up to three years.
If the person to whom he is providing help is under 16 years of age or has no ability to value or determine his own interests, the agent shall be punished with imprisonment from 1 to 5 years.
Medically assisted death bill
In 2020, 5 bills about legal assisted dying, including euthanasia, were introduced in and approved by Portugese Parliament.
These were merged into one bill, and on the 29th of January 2021 this bill was approved by Parliament too.
The merged bill about medically assisted dying provides that a person can request medically assisted death or euthanasia.
The person’s will should be current and reiterated, serious, free and enlightened.
And the person should be in a situation of intolerable suffering, with definitive injury of extreme severity according to scientific consensus or incurable and fatal disease.
In these cases, euthanasia “is not legally punishable when practiced or helped by health professionals”.
Right to Die Societies in Portugal
Latest news
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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
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Portuguese consider two right-to-die bills in Parliament
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