Updates on medically assisted suicide in Italy: Approval of first regional law in February 2025

Abstract

In Italy, the issue of medically assisted suicide is addressed by the sentence number 242 of the Constitutional Court (22^nd November 2019). Further indications of organisational nature are needed, which are under the responsibility of the Italian Parliament and each regional health administration. Recently, the sentence number 135 of the Constitutional Court (1^st July 2024) has provided further specifications regarding ‘life-support treatment’, which still remains controversial. Regional differences in Italy regarding medically assisted suicide are reported in this article, showing that, on the date of 11^th February 2025, Tuscany is the first and only Italian region to have passed a regional law on medically assisted suicide. One possible approach to discussion and management of this sensitive and controversial issue could be cooperative forms of regionalism while waiting for a national law. To date, after the first Italian case, which refers to Marche region and occurred on 16^th June 2022 (Federico Carboni, also known as ‘Mario’), four more individuals in Italy have resorted to medically assisted suicide: ‘Gloria’ in Veneto, ‘Anna’ in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, a man in Emilia Romagna, and ‘Vittoria’ in Veneto. It is hoped that a national law will be approved soon, as strongly urged by the Constitutional Court; if not, efforts should be made to identify and implement shared and standardised procedures throughout the Italian territory, encouraging cooperative forms of regionalism. This would allow patients to know that the request is followed by unambiguous responses from the authorities, within a reasonable time.