Writer first to die under Italy fast-track assisted suicide law
A writer suffering from Parkinson's disease has become the first to die through medically assisted suicide under a fast-track regional law in Italy, campaigners said yesterday.
Daniele Pieroni died at home on May 17, three months after the new legislation was passed by regional authorities in Tuscany, the pro-euthanasia Luca Coscioni Association said.
The Italian Constitutional Court ruled in September 2019 that assisted suicide was allowed for patients in certain circumstances.
But the national parliament has yet to adopt any legislation, which means that obtaining permission to die is difficult and can take years.
In February, Tuscany -- ruled by the centre left -- became the first of Italy's 20 regions to set out its own rules streamlining and speeding up the request process.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition is broadly against euthanasia and is challenging the Tuscan law in court.
But any decision on that will come too late to affect Pieroni's choice.
Born in 1961, the writer had been suffering from Parkinson's disease since 2008 and was forced to use a feeding tube for 21 hours a day, the Luca Coscioni Association said in a statement.
'The lethal drug was prepared at his home, which Daniele self-administered' in the presence of doctors and his family, the statement added.
It has called on other regions in the Catholic-majority country to follow Tuscany's lead.
'Too many people continue to suffer or emigrate to die with dignity,' said the association.
'We invite all regions to act to guarantee freedom and respect for people's wishes.'
Helping someone take their own life is technically illegal in Italy, punishable with between five and 12 years behind bars.
But the Constitutional Court made an exception for those facing an incurable illness causing 'intolerable' physical or psychological suffering, where they are kept alive by life-support treatments but remain capable of making 'free and informed decisions'.
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