Politics and Policies in the Debate on Euthanasia

This book analyses the political and public debates on euthanasia in Portugal held between 2016 and 2023. Utilizing petitions submitted to Parliament, legislative bills, parliamentary debates, opinion articles published in newspapers, documents published by the Catholic Church and interviews with political and social actors, it examines this sensitive issue through the theoretical lens of morality politics. It does so by studying the process of political disputes between advocacy coalitions formed by political parties and societal actors, as well as the main used arguments in favour and against the legalization of euthanasia in Portugal. This is the first book to comprehensively analyse a morality issue in Portugal, a predominantly Catholic country that has taken an innovative and liberal stance on many morality issues over the last two decades. It will appeal to students and scholars of sociology, political science, public policy, and bioethics, as well as policymakers and other interest groups.