Italy to hold referendum on legalising euthanasia
Italy to hold referendum on legalising euthanasia after 750,000 sign petition: Christian politicians condemn ‘culture of death’
- Petition calling for referendum legalising euthanasia in Italy signed by 750,000
- Campaigners believe a vote could be help on the issue as early as next year
- At present, it is illegal for anyone to help another person in killing themselves
- Exception in 2019 for those with incurable diseases causing ‘intolerable’ pain
Italy could hold a referendum on legalising euthanasia as early as next year after a petition in favour received 750,000 signatures.
In Italy, 500,000 signatures are required for any petition to force a referendum in the country.
And with 250,000 more signatures than necessary, a vote could be held as early as next year on the campaign, which calls for changes to the country’s assisted suicide law.
In a statement from the Luca Coscioni Association on the petition, Roberto Saviano, a journalist and writer known for his investigations into the Neapolitan mafia, said: ‘Today, without a law to regulate it, euthanasia isn’t a right available to everyone.
Italy could hold a referendum on legalising euthanasia as early as next year after a petition in favour received 750,000 signatures (stock image)
‘I signed to give a free choice to those unable to travel to countries where euthanasia is legal.’
Presently, anyone helping another person to kill themselves can be jailed for between five and 12 years under current Italian law.
But the constitutional court added an exception in 2019 for ‘patients kept alive by treatment… and affected by an incurable disease that causes physical and psychological suffering they find intolerable’.
The patient must be ‘fully capable of taking free and conscious decisions’, the judges added.
In Italy, 500,000 signatures are required for any petition to force a referendum in the country. And with 250,000 more signatures than necessary, a vote could be held as early as next year on the campaign. Pictured: The interior of the Italian Parliament
People suffering from incurable diseases who do not fall into this category have no legal recourse to assisted suicide.
Referendum backers say that if passed it will allow ‘medical assistance to choose to die’ for ‘sick people who need help from someone else to end their own suffering’.
However, challenging the petition, Mario Adinolfi, head of the small Christian political party Popolo della Famiglia (People of the Family) said the push was a ‘marketing campaign’ for a ‘culture of death’.
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