"Before the summer break, Sardinia will have its law on the end of life and it will be a balanced measure." Carla Fundoni, doctor and president of the Health Commission, is certain of this at the end of the day of hearings. "From tomorrow the commission will begin the general discussion," assures Fundoni, who "will take into account all the positions that have emerged during these preparatory works."
In today's afternoon session , Professor Giuseppe Castello, a doctor and professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Faculty of Sardinia, was heard. For Castello, who in the introduction wanted to "clear the field of the idea of a secular vision opposed to a confessional vision", the fundamental issue is represented by the approach given to the end of life and a law that regulates it. "There are utilitarian and also personalistic visions, which consider the freedom of the individual to be the absolute value. I adhere to a concept that puts together the good of life alongside that of freedom because I believe this is the position of a democratic country, which never claims the right to die and for this reason does not provide for the death penalty. Moreover, if the body is mine, why, in addition to having the right to die, should I not have the right to dispose of it, for example by selling a kidney?"
The professor who defined the Constitutional Court ruling 242 on the end of life as "a sign of bourgeoisification", reiterated that "we are dealing with people with great suffering". It is therefore important to "ascertain whether those who ask to be helped to commit suicide are doing so because of the disease and not for other issues in their experience", guaranteeing - at the same time - to all those who suffer, including children, "palliative care which today is not always accessible to everyone throughout the island".
The Health Committee is convened for tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. for the general discussion and the move to the articles. Then the vote on the text, which could arrive in the Chamber in the coming weeks.
(Unioneonline/vf)
