Umbria approves law on medically assisted suicide

(ANSA) - ROME, 22 OTT - Umbria on Thursday approved a law on medically assisted suicide, the fifth Italian region to do so. The Legislative Assembly of Umbria has approved a citizens' initiative bill titled "Provisions for regional healthcare assistance regarding medically assisted voluntary death through the self-administration of a lethal drug." The outcome of the vote was met with prolonged applause in the chamber. The President, Stefania Proietti, did not participate in the vote. Last month Veneto became Italy's fourth region to approve a law regulating end-of-life situations, after Tuscany, Sardinia and Emilia-Romagna, and the first run by a centre-right administration. The right-to-die Luca Coscioni Association have helped several people to commit assisted suicide in Italy since a landmark 2019 ruling by the Italian supreme court that stated assisted suicide is legal in some cases. Before that it took the terminally ill people who wanted to end their lives to the Dignitas Clinic near Zurich. The supreme court ruling laid down strict markers on cases in which assisted suicide is legitimate and called on parliament to end a legislative vacuum at the national level on end-of-life issues. So far it has failed to do so. (ANSA).
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