Italian Prime Minister expresses doubts over legalizing assisted suicide.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

A few days ago I reported on the Italian court decision, that may open a wide door to assisted suicide. The case concerned Fabiano Antoniani, known as DJ Fabo, experienced a spinal cord injury in a serious car accident in June 2014.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte expressed doubts about legalizing assisted suicide. The Corriere della Sera newspaper reported Conte saying:

as a lawyer by training and a Catholic, while he had no doubt about the right to life, he was not so sure about the right to die.

I am concerned that since the language within the court decision is similar to the Carter decision in Canada, it will open a wide door to assisted suicide. The Guardian reported the court decision as stating:

Anyone who “facilitates the suicidal intention … of a patient kept alive by life-support treatments and suffering from an irreversible pathology” should not be punished under certain conditions, the top court ruled.

The court said that a patient’s condition must be “causing physical and psychological suffering that he or she considers intolerable”.

The statement “causing physical and psychological suffering that he or she considers intolerable” is completely subjective, and similar to the Canadian Carter court decision.

Conte needs to oppose the legalization of assisted suicide and challenge the court decision.