Latest news with #ItalianConstitutionalCourt
Daily Tribune
12-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Tribune
Writer first to die under Italy fast-track assisted suicide law
AFP | Rome 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'.
The Citizen
11-06-2025
- Health
- The Citizen
Italian writer becomes first to die under fast-track assisted suicide law
A Parkinson's-stricken writer in Tuscany has died through assisted suicide, challenging national inaction and igniting political tensions over euthanasia. 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 Wednesday. 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. Legislation not yet adopted 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. Pieroni living with Parkinson's for 16 years 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. ALSO READ: 'Let me die in peace': Assisted suicide goes to court '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.' ConCourt makes exception 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'. Since the 2019 court ruling, eight people have committed medically assisted suicide in Italy, the association told AFP. The first was a tetraplegic man, Federico Carboni, 44, from the Marche region, in June 2022. NOW READ: Assisted suicide: Ultimate freedom for human beings?
Local Italy
11-06-2025
- Health
- Local Italy
Italian writer first to die under Tuscany's assisted suicide law
Pieroni, who suffered from Parkinson's disease, died at his home on Saturday, May 17th, the pro-euthanasia Luca Coscioni Association said on Wednesday. Pieroni's death came over three months after a landmark right-to-die bill was passed by Tuscany's authorities. The Italian Constitutional Court ruled in September 2019 that assisted suicide was allowed for patients 'kept alive by life-support treatments and suffering from an irreversible condition" as long as the condition caused 'physical and psychological suffering' considered 'intolerable". At the time, the court urged parliament to pass a law to provide a clear legal framework setting out the circumstances in which assisted suicide was possible. But the invitation went unheeded, with multiple consecutive governments sidestepping the issue. This means that patients looking to resort to assisted suicide in Italy often wait years before being granted permission by national health authorities. In February, Tuscany became the first of Italy's 20 regions to set out its own right-to-die rules, streamlining and speeding up the request process. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government is strongly opposed to euthanasia and is currently challenging Tuscany's bill in court. But any court decision on the matter 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. Pieroni 'self-administered" a lethal drug in the presence of doctors and his family, it added. The Luca Coscioni Association 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," the association said. "We invite all regions to act to guarantee freedom and respect for people's wishes." Since the 2019 Constitutional Court ruling, eight people have committed medically assisted suicide in Italy. The first was Federico Carboni, 44, from the central Marche region, in June 2022.
Local Italy
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Local Italy
Inside Italy: Why government silence is bad news ahead of Italy's citizenship referendum
Inside Italy is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip from Italy that you might not have heard about. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article. Italian citizenship has been a heavily discussed topic in national media outlets and TV talk shows in recent weeks after the Italian Constitutional Court approved a landmark referendum on easing citizenship by residency rules. The referendum, which is set to take place on an as-yet-unspecified Sunday between April 15th and June 15th, will ask Italians to decide on whether or not to create a quicker path to naturalisation by cutting the current 10-year wait time down to five years. This would bring Italy – which is often regarded as having one of the toughest naturalisation systems in Europe – in line with countries such as the UK, France and Germany. But while a broad centre-left coalition including the Partito Democratico (PD), Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra (AVS), Italia Viva and +Europa has recently begun to run a joint campaign in support of the proposed citizenship reform, the ruling hard-right coalition has largely avoided any public mention of the referendum in recent weeks. Granted, right-wing leaders including PM Giorgia Meloni clearly expressed their opposition to changing current citizenship rules after referendum campaigners secured the signatures needed to qualify for a national vote last September. But ever since Italy's highest court greenlighted the vote in late January, the forces making up the ruling bloc (Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia, Deputy PM Matteo Salvini's Lega and Antonio Tajani's Forza Italia) have hardly ever touched on the issue in interviews with media or in parliament – and that may well be by design. Earlier this week, we reported on how the proposed citizenship reform faces two major hurdles, with the first one being the so-called quorum (or 'threshold'). As is the case with all abrogative referendums in Italy, voter turnout will need to exceed 50 percent for the vote's result to be valid. This means that, out of around 51 million eligible voters, over 25.5 million will need to take part in the vote. If this quorum is not met, the referendum won't be valid, whatever its result may be. Avoiding (or minimising) public discourse has long been one of the most common political strategies in Italy to keep referendums from reaching the quorum. In other words, rather than actively campaigning 'against' a certain proposal, parties choose to sidestep the issue altogether, discouraging participation in the vote in a bid to ensure that it doesn't reach the required turnout. This tactic is often seen by political commentators as partly responsible for the low number of successful referendums held in Italy since the birth of the Republic (only 39 of 77 votes have reached the quorum over the past 50 years). Over the years, many campaign groups and political experts have called for the repeal of the quorum requirement, asking that referendums' results be taken as valid regardless of voter turnout. None have been successful so far. So what does it all mean for the citizenship referendum? It means that the campaign run by the centre-left coalition will have to 'drown out' the silence of the ruling bloc in order to give the proposed citizenship reform a chance of passing at least the first hurdle – namely the quorum. Some Italian media reports in recent weeks have said that a miracolo (miracle) is needed for the referendum to reach the required voter turnout. Plenty of religious miracoli have taken place in Italy over the centuries, at least according to Catholic tradition. Hopefully, we'll be getting a slightly more secular miracle this spring.
Euronews
14-02-2025
- Health
- Euronews
Tuscany becomes Italy's first region to approve assisted suicide for people with incurable illnesses
Tuscany has approved a bill regulating medically assisted suicide, becoming Italy's first region to enact a right-to-die law. The law requires a medical and ethics commission to consider an end-of-life request for no more than 30 days. If approved, the regional health services must provide the necessary medication and a doctor within 10 days. All medical personnel have the right to opt-out. The law passed by a vote of 27-13 in the central Italian region governed by the centre-left. 'The law does nothing more than provide objective procedures and clarity,'' the regional governor, Eugenio Giani, said before the vote. 'I feel that we are giving a national message'. The Italian Constitutional Court ruled in 2019 that assisted suicide was legal for patients affected by an irreversible pathology with intolerable physical and psychological pain. They must be capable of making a free and conscious decision. Despite the high court ruling, the Italian parliament has not passed national right-to-die legislation. The law in Tuscany could face a constitutional challenge if Premier Giorgia Meloni's far-right-led government, which is broadly opposed to euthanasia, deems that the region has overstepped its powers. Only a few countries in Europe allow assisted suicide, though others, such as the United Kingdom, are debating their own policies.
