Right-to-die activist Marco Cappato,
the treasurer of the Luca Coscioni Association, told a press
conference in Bologna on Tuesday that three requests for
assisted suicide received a favourable opinion from authorities
in the Emilia-Romagna region and one of the persons was believed
to have voluntarily taken their life.
Cappato said he was aware that in the region "there were three
requests with favourable opinion concerning assisted suicide, so
we imagine that the whole procedure was completed, and one of
these three cases was finalized therefore, if I must interpret
it, it means the person had a voluntary death", he said.
Emilia-Romagna has not approved a law granting access to
assisted suicide but it has voted an end-of-life regulation amid
a legislative vacuum at the national level.
In 2009 the Constitutional Court said assisted suicide is
permissible in Italy in some circumstances in its 'Cappato
ruling', named after Marco Cappato.
The requirements outlined in the 2019 sentence included the
presence of an irreversible pathology, unbearable physical or
psychological suffering and the patient's reliance on treatments
of vital support, among others.
The court also called on parliament to pass legislation dealing
with end-of-life issues, something that it has failed to do so
far.
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