Portuguese parliament approves law to legalize euthanasia

By Catarina Demony
3 Min Read
LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal’s parliament voted on Friday to legalise euthanasia, setting the country up to become the seventh in the world to allow terminally ill patients to seek assistance from a doctor to end their life.
“With this vote, parliament added dignity to our democracy,” Left Bloc lawmaker Jose Manuel Pureza said, calling the approval by 136-78 votes with four abstentions a “democratic answer to fundamentalism and fear”.
The law legalises the practice in certain cases and under strict rules.
People aged over 18 will be allowed to request assistance in dying if they are terminally ill and suffering from “lasting” and “unbearable” pain - unless they are deemed not to be mentally fit to make such a decision.
The process will only be open to national citizens and legal residents in order to prevent people from travelling to Portugal to get medical help to end their life.
The law will be in the hands of President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, a conservative, from next week for a final stamp of approval. Rebelo de Sousa, who has previously said he will respect parliament’s vote, will have 20 days to consider it..
Some have criticised the timing of the vote, with opposition party PSD saying that due to the coronavirus pandemic raging across Portugal there was “great anxiety, great fear among people that has to do with issues of life and death”.
In a letter to parliament, two groups managing care homes, which were hit hard by the pandemic, said approving euthanasia meant “disrespect for all these people”.
But Ines Real, a lawmaker from the People-Animals-Nature party, said it was “dishonest” to invoke the pandemic and to “confuse deaths related to COVID-19 with the legislative process that aims to allow euthanasia to those suffering”.
Portugal, a Catholic-majority country which spent a large part of the 20th century until the 1974 Carnation revolution ruled by a fascist regime, has since made strides in liberal reforms upholding human rights. It legalised abortions in 2007 and allowed same-sex marriage in 2010.
Reporting by Catarina Demony; Additional reporting by Sérgio Gonçalves; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Andrei Khalip
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-portugal-rights-euthanasia-idUSKBN29Y21W

Where is in Portugal will keep the Faith in all of this.  Portugal for a long time has been no different than the rest of the historical
non Catholic western nations. As Pagan and evil as you can get.

I think the real sister Lucia made that bit up.  Because it is very clear from the facts that Portugal has Not got any qualities that could be described as keeping the dogma of the faith.

The test of any prophet is their prophecy.

Although I believe in the message of Fatima, we mustn’t treat it as dogma. 

News from my friend in Fatima. 

He attended SSPX Mass today, for the Feast of the Purification, and the police raided the Church in Fatima.  All churches in Portugal are closed by order of the Bishops (not the stare).

The laity were all held and their details taken then released.