In Portugal, president vetoes fourth draft euthanasia bill

The fourth parliamentary bill decriminalising medically assisted dying was vetoed by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on [19 April], hours after he [remarked] that only legal and technical problems with the bill remained. [...] A few minutes after these statements, the president announced through a note on the Presidency website that he would return Decree no. 43/XV, on medically assisted death, back to parliament, without promulgation. “Specifically, I ask the parliament to consider clarifying who defines the patient’s physical incapacity to self-administer lethal drugs, as well as who should ensure medical supervision during the act of medically assisted death,” the head of state wrote in the letter to parliament. The fourth parliamentary decree on medically assisted death was approved in a final overall vote on 31 March and, after fixing the final wording, published in the parliament Gazette on 13 April. [...] When the first legislative initiatives on this matter arose, Rebelo de Sousa, a practising Catholic, advocated a long and wide public debate. However, he placed himself outside the discussion, referring to his role at the end of the parliamentary legislative process. On receiving the first decree of parliament on this matter, he sent it to the Constitutional Court, which declared it unconstitutional in March 2021 for insufficient normative densification. In November 2021, before the second decree, the head of state used a political veto, considering that it contained contradictory expressions. In the current legislature, on receiving the third decree from parliament, he sent it to the Constitutional Court, which declared it unconstitutional on 30 January.
Read the full article here: Euractiv