Portugal’s Constitutional Court has blocked a law decriminalising euthanasia because it did not have “the necessary rigour” required to be passed.

Last year, Portugal’s parliament approved euthanasia legislation for the first time, although no party had campaigned on the issue at the previous election. As SPUC reported, it “was a ‘tragic day’ for Portugal”.

Then, last January, a second vote was held, approving euthanasia by 136 votes to 78.

Now the country’s Constitutional Court has voted to block the law, with seven out of twelve judges deeming the legislation imprecise. If the law was to be passed, it had to be “clear, precise, clearly envisioned and controllable”, said the judges.

The proposed law sought to introduce euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide for patients suffering from “unbearable” pain “without a hope for a cure”.

However, the Constitutional Court has rejected the law for failing to define the circumstances under which euthanasia can take place, as well as failing to define what is meant by “extreme suffering”.

However, João Pedro Caupers, president of the Constitutional Court, stated that the judicial body was not against euthanasia in principle. “The right to life cannot be transfigured into a duty to live under any circumstances”, he said.

The ruling Socialist Party can now amend the legislation and hold another vote.

SPUC comment

A SPUC spokesperson said: “The decision by the Constitutional Court is damning, all but stating that the legislation was lazy, incompetent and even reckless, especially considering the lack of definition provided for the term ‘extreme suffering’.

“But all euthanasia legislation is reckless, in that it encourages a culture of disposal and death, especially for the elderly, putting pressure on the old and even on children. When euthanasia is introduced, the number of deaths rise dramatically, as we have seen in the Netherlands.”

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“Tragic day” for Portugal as parliament approves euthanasia and assisted suicide