Tuscany becomes Italy’s first region to approve assisted suicide for people with incurable illnesses
Tuscany has approved a bill regulating medically assisted suicide, becoming Italy's first region to enact a right-to-die law.
The law requires a medical and ethics commission to consider an end-of-life request for no more than 30 days. If approved, the regional health services must provide the necessary medication and a doctor within 10 days.
All medical personnel have the right to opt-out.
The law passed by a vote of 27-13 in the central Italian region governed by the centre-left.
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“The law does nothing more than provide objective procedures and clarity,’’ the regional governor, Eugenio Giani, said before the vote.
“I feel that we are giving a national message”.
The Italian Constitutional Court ruled in 2019 that assisted suicide was legal for patients affected by an irreversible pathology with intolerable physical and psychological pain. They must be capable of making a free and conscious decision.
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Despite the high court ruling, the Italian parliament has not passed national right-to-die legislation.
The law in Tuscany could face a constitutional challenge if Premier Giorgia Meloni's far-right-led government, which is broadly opposed to euthanasia, deems that the region has overstepped its powers.
Only a few countries in Europe allow assisted suicide, though others, such as the United Kingdom, are debating their own policies.
