“It was life that won, not the Church. The two ideas at issue were based on two opposite anthropological views of life: a deeply individualistic one, in which everyone is the only master of one’s own life and can do whatever one wants with it; the other sees life as a gift for others, which can only be appreciated as something to share”. This was said to SIR by don António Martins, professor of anthropology at the Catholic University of Lisbon, about the outcome of the parliamentary vote that defeated the four bills of law for the decriminalisation of euthanasia: “The debate, which has been going on for two years now, has divided Portuguese society, and the political parties will certainly come back for more”. According to don Martins, “the parliamentary debate was of a high standard, not just a fight between the right and left; it was an exchange of views about fundamental values, which has been beneficial for society”.