Portugal’s Parliament Considers Bill Seeking Assisted Suicide

Portugal’s parliament is expected to approve legislation on Friday that will allow medically assisted suicide in certain limited circumstances.

It will be permitted for adults only if the wish is “current and reiterated, serious, free and informed”.

The person must be “in a situation of great intensity suffering, with definitive injury of extreme gravity or serious and incurable disease”.

The measure has parallels in only a handful of countries worldwide.

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The final version was approved in committee on Wednesday, following a fraught week that saw proceedings delayed after the socialist politician steering the bill provided changes to members just hours before they were due to vote.

There was then a last-ditch call by the main opposition for a referendum on the issue.

But the call by the centre-right Social Democratic Party (SDP) to suspend the legislative process and hold a referendum was rejected, paving the way for Friday’s final reading.

Under English law euthanasia is illegal and is considered manslaughter or murder.

It is fully legal in three European countries: Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. But assisted death and passive euthanasia – of various types – are legal in many more European countries.