Veneto's regional health authority and
ethics committee on Friday approved a request for assisted
suicide by a 78-year-old woman with terminal cancer who filed
her plea on the basis of the Constitutional Court's recent
'Cappato ruling' , named after right-to-die campaigner Marco
Cappato, which says assisted suicide is permissible in certain
circumstances.
The ruling came after three other Italian regions, Marche,
Umbria and Friuli, turned down similar requests by terminally
ill patients wishing to end their lives.
Filomena Gallo, secretary of the Luca Coscioni right-to-die
association and coordinator of the woman's legal team, said
"after the obstructionism registered in Marche, Umbria and
Friuli Venezia Giulia,, the Veneto Region has distinguished
itself by the correct application of the Constitutional Court's
sentence on the Cappato case, which makes assisted suicide not
liable to prosecution in determined conditions".
The Veneto ruling was the second in the region around Venice and
the fourth in Italy.
photo: Cappato
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