Clear legal framework

Tuscany is the 1st region to approve euthanasia law

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/www.tomasztomaszewski.com.pl)

Tuscany has passed a law on the right to euthanasia, making it the first region in Catholic Italy to regulate assisted suicide in the absence of a national law on this controversial issue.

The regional law in Tuscany, which was passed by a majority of 27 votes to 13, stipulates how requests for assisted suicide are to be handled.

A medical committee in the region is obliged to examine the applications within 30 days. If the criteria are met, the regional health service must provide the necessary medication and medical staff within ten days, unless the patient wants their own doctor to carry out the procedure.

Italy's public healthcare system is structured on a regional basis
The law allows doctors to refuse to take part in the procedure on moral grounds - similar to what national legislation on abortion already allows for so-called conscientious objectors. The public healthcare system in Italy is largely structured on a regional basis. Italy is divided into 20 regions.

The Italian Constitutional Court de facto legalized the procedure in 2019 and called on Parliament to pass a law to create a clear legal framework. However, the request was not heeded because national politicians were avoiding the issue and have not yet wanted to pass a law on the subject.

Constitutional Court already gave the green light in 2019
Before the law was passed in Tuscany, the conservative Catholic pro-life organization "Pro Vita Famiglia" criticized that the region was turning into a kind of "Italian Switzerland" in which "state death is carried out to get rid of sick, frail, old and lonely people". Assisted suicide has been permitted in Switzerland since the 1940s.

Tuscany is governed by center-left parties, but at national level, the right-wing coalition of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is largely opposed to assisted suicide. In 2019, the Italian Constitutional Court allowed euthanasia for patients suffering from incurable diseases that cause "unbearable" suffering and who express a clear will to die.

Nevertheless, regional health authorities are still reluctant to approve requests for euthanasia, which has prompted the pro-euthanasia association "Luca Coscioni" to campaign for clearer legislation on the issue. The association largely inspired the law approved by Tuscany.