On Tuesday, February 11, the Regional Council of Tuscany approved a bill on medically assisted suicide. Tuscany has thus become the first Italian region to regulate this practice within its health service.
(LifeSiteNews) – Tuscany has opened the door to assisted suicide in Italy.
On Tuesday, February 11, the Regional Council of Tuscany approved a bill on medically assisted suicide. Tuscany has thus become the first Italian region to regulate this practice within its health service.This marks a historic moment in the Italian debate on end-of-life issues.
The bill is a popular initiative promoted by the Luca Coscioni Association, a group for "freedom of scientific research" which also organizes campaigns to promote or normalize issues such as assisted fertilization, assisted suicide, living wills, abortion, contraception, recreational drug use, and more.
Cardinal Paolo Lojudice, Archbishop of Siena andpresident of the Tuscan Episcopal Conference, has expressed his disappointment:
We acknowledge the decision made by the Regional Council of Tuscany, but this will not limit our action in favor of life, always and in any case. To the hospital chaplains, the nuns, the priests, and the volunteers who work in hospices and in all those places where every day we confront illness, pain, and death, I say: do not give up and continue to be bearers of hope, of life. Despite everything. Enacting the right to death with a regional law is not an achievement, but a defeat for everyone.
The legislation defines procedures and timelines for regional healthcare assistance in assisted suicide, in accordance with Italian Constitutional Court ruling no. 242/2019. According to this ruling, aiding suicide should not be punishable when the individual in question meets specific requirements: (1) they are affected by an irreversible disease and (2) are experiencing physical or psychological suffering deemed absolutely intolerable; (3) they are kept alive by life-sustaining treatments; (4) they are fully capable of making free and informed decisions and therefore clearly and unequivocally express their will to end their own life.
The new Tuscan law seeks to establish the organizational methods for implementing the provisions of the ruling, including assisted suicide among the services provided by the regional healthcare system for those who request it and meet the necessary requirements. The most important innovation is the introduction, within 15 days of the law coming into effect, of a permanent multidisciplinary Commission in the regional health system, consisting of a palliative care physician, a psychiatrist, an anesthetist, a psychologist, a forensic doctor, and a nurse. All of these must be volunteers and provide their services free of charge.
READ: North America’s horrific assisted suicide regime is knocking on Britain’s door
The law also stipulates that this Commission must verify the patient's eligibility for assisted suicide within 20 days of receiving the application. If the outcome is positive, the approval and definition of the practice's implementation methods must proceed within 10 days. The health company must provide technical and pharmacological support within 7 days after that. Importantly, the services are free to the patient, meaning they are funded by Italian taxpayers. An annual budget of 10,000 euros will be allocated for the years 2025, 2026, and 2027.
The president of the Tuscany region, Eugenio Giani, declared yesterday during his speech in the Assembly: "More than to set principles, this law aims to be a medical-administrative regulation. We are trying to establish a procedure to rationalize what happens in local healthcare companies."
The proposal had elicited mixed reactions as its boosters awaited yesterday’s vote. The Tuscan bishops, in an official note on January 28, expressed their concern over the symbolic value of the bill on end-of-life care, urging regional councillors not to politicize the issue but to reflect deeply on the concepts of progress and human dignity. The note also highlights the importance of the document Dignitas infinita by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith for shedding light on the issue.
Even within the Democratic Party, the majority political force in the Tuscany Regional Council, divergent positions had emerged before the approval of the law, to the extent that a regional Democratic councillor abstained from te vote.
With the approval of this bill, Tuscany becomes the first Italian region to adopt specific legislation on assisted suicide, paving the way for similar initiatives in other regional areas and even on a national scale. The approval of such legislation could trigger a series of appeals and heated national debates on the need for a framework law at the state level, avoiding regulation solely on a regional basis.
Currently, Italy does not have unified legislation governing assisted suicide, and cases can be evaluated based on the Constitutional Court ruling and jurisprudential interpretations. While Tuscany has already taken this historic step, the issue of assisted suicide continues to significantly divide public opinion in Italy.
February 11 was also the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, as well as the World Day of the Sick, established by Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1992. It is unknown whether or not the coincidence of the bill being approved that day was intentional.
READ: Lutheran women 'priests' help lead pilgrimage organized by Pope Francis' diocese
