First important step forward for the law on assisted suicide: the joint Justice and Social Affairs commissions of the Chamber have in fact approved the first article of the provision, the "framework" of the law, the one that defines the scope of action, the purposes and principles on which is based.
The ok came thanks to the end of the obstruction that the center-right has been practicing for years which, while voting against, is now allowing the measure to proceed with the examination of the text. The objective is to conclude the examination of the text in committee by December 9th and bring it to the Chamber on the 13th for general discussion.
The representatives of M5S, Pd, Leu, Misto and Iv expressed themselves in favor of article 1. Accepted the amendment of the center-right on conscientious objection for health personnel.
The article voted today establishes the objective of the law which is to regulate "the right of the person suffering from an irreversible pathology and with a poor prognosis or an irreversible clinical condition" to request medical assistance to put an end "voluntarily and independently to one's own life "in compliance with the limits set by law and the principles of the Constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The examination of the bill has dragged on in Parliament since in November 2019 the Constitutional Court partially decriminalized (with the sentence on the Dj Fabo-Cappato case) the aid to suicide, urging the Parliament to pass an implementation law.
The text in question incorporates the four criteria indicated by the Court for accessing assisted suicide: the applicant must be able to understand and want; he must have an irreversible pathology; it must depend on life support; and have physical or mental suffering considered intolerable.
“Article 1 of the assisted suicide law was approved in the House Commission. Good. It is too early to know if Parliament will be serious or if it is a move only to say that it has been tried, and then to end it as the Zan bill ”, observes Cappato.
