Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, here in 2016 -

FRANCISCO LEONG AFP

A law authorizing "medically assisted death" in Portugal will be submitted this Friday to the final vote of deputies, paving the way for the country to become the fourth in Europe to decriminalize euthanasia.

The final version of the text, made public on Tuesday, provides that only “national citizens legally residing in national territory”, having taken a “free and informed” decision, may have recourse to it.

The law will apply to adults who are "in a situation of extreme suffering, presenting irreversible injuries" or suffering "from an incurable and fatal disease".

The left-wing majority in Parliament had adopted in February 2020 five bills on euthanasia, tabled by the Socialist Party in power, the Left Bloc (far left), the animal party PAN, the Greens and a liberal deputy.

Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have legalized

Since then, a working group had been tasked with merging these proposals in order to arrive at the drafting of a common text.

If the law is definitively adopted by Parliament on Friday, it will be sent to conservative President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who can then promulgate it, submit it to the Constitutional Court for analysis or oppose its veto, which would however be canceled by a second vote of the deputies.

Reelected this Sunday for a second term, the head of state is a fervent Catholic but has so far avoided taking an open position on the subject.

In Europe, three countries have already legalized euthanasia: Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Neighboring Spain also paved the way for its decriminalization last December, when the Chamber of Deputies approved at first reading a government bill recognizing the right to euthanasia under strict conditions.

The text has yet to be approved by the Senate.

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