Italy approves assisted suicide for first time ever

The ethics committee of the ASUR regional public health authority in the central region of Marche permitted a tetraplegic man in his 40s to end his life through assisted dying, a campaign group said on Tuesday.

Helping someone to end their own life is technically illegal in Italy but the Constitutional Court ruled in 2019 that it was not always a crime to help someone in “intolerable” suffering who is capable of making their own decision.

Identified as “Mario”, the Italian truck driver has been receiving 24-hour care since an accident fractured his spine and left him paralysed from the shoulders down 10 years ago.

He has long campaigned for permission to take life-ending drugs, writing to Italian daily La Stampa in August 2020.

“I want to use what little strength I have left to achieve a dignified death,” he wrote.

Mario had originally planned to go and die in Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal, but changed his mind and decided to fight his case in Italy, with the help of right-to-die group, the Luca Coscioni Association.

After assessing a report by doctors, a regional ethics committee has now legally fulfilled Mario’s wish, according to the Luca Coscioni Association.

In a video released on Tuesday by the association, Mario said he felt “lighter” following the decision.

“I’ve freed myself of all the tension built up over the years,” he added.

“I’m tired and I want to be free to choose the end of my life.”

Anyone helping another person to take their own life can be jailed for between five and 12 years under Italian law.

But Italy’s 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”.

In 2019, the court called on parliament to clarify the law on assisted suicide, but this has not yet happened, with the Luca Coscioni Association condemning the “paralysis” of lawmakers.

A petition has been lodged with the Italian authorities calling for a referendum on the issue, with a vote expected next year.

This summer, more than one million Italians signed a petition seeking a referendum to decriminalise euthanasia, a divisive issue in Italy which faces strong opposition from conservative politicians and the Vatican.