Lisbon, Portugal, May 30, 2018 / 13:23 pm
After heated debate, the Portuguese Parliament voted on Tuesday to reject multiple proposed laws that would legalize euthanasia in the country. The vote drew praise from local bishops.
Four laws promoting the legalization of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide were up for vote in a joint effort between various groups, including the People-Animals-Nature party, the Green party, the Left Bloc, and the Socialist party. The measure, had it passed, would have decriminalized voluntary euthanasia for terminally ill patients.
The parliament voted 115-110 against the proposal, with four abstentions, on the evening of May 29.
Cardinal-elect Antonio Marto of Leiria-Fatima applauded the rejection of euthanasia in Portugal, saying that Parliament had shown "common sense" in an issue that was "so delicate and complex that it goes beyond partisan ideology," according to the Catholic Herald.