Lisbon: Lawmakers in Portugal have voted to legalize euthanasia by approving a revised bill that rectified objections raised earlier by the Constitutional Court.
The vote was 138 in favor, 84 against and five abstentions, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The original bill was vetoed in March by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The new law specifies the conditions under which medically assisted death is not punishable, and thus changes the country’s Penal Code.
The rules are quite restrictive, and only people over the age of 18, who are Portuguese citizens or foreigners legally residing in the country, can turn to euthanasia, the practice of intentionally ending life to alleviate pain and suffering.
Only patients in situations of “unbearable suffering, with serious permanent injury or incurable and fatal disease” can choose this final procedure. Those diagnosed with mental illness may not choose assisted suicide.
President de Sousa has yet to sign the bill.
Source: Telangana Today