Keywords
assisted suicide
bioethics
dignity
euthanasia
medical ethics
How to Cite
Abstract
The main purpose of the article is to present an ethical and legal analysis of the dispute over medically assisted suicide in Italy. In early July 2025, a bill was submitted to the country’s Parliament to regulate the termination of life on request. The legislative initiative represents yet another stage in the intense public debate over medical aid in dying that has been going on in Italy for several decades. One of its major milestones was the enactment in 2017 of the Law on living wills, which consists of an anticipatory expression of will by an adult or legal guardian – made while enjoying full mental capacity – concerning the possible undertaking or abandonment in the future of various medical therapies and treatments which the individual wishes or does not wish to consent to. The adoption of the Living Will Law has significantly revived the debate on the criteria for terminating life on request. In 2019, the Italian Constitutional Court ruled that Italian residents have the right to receive medical assistance in suicide. In order to gain access to such a medical procedure, several requirements must be met: the person must suffer from an irrecoverable disease that causes physical or mental suffering qualifying as unbearable; he or she must be fully capable of making free and informed decisions; and ultimately must receive life-sustaining treatment. In recent years, some circles in Italy have been pushing for the liberalization of these regulations, advocating for the abolition of the life-sustaining treatments criterion. In 2024, the Constitutional Court and the National Committee for Bioethics spoke out on the matter. The Italian bioethics dispute over medically assisted suicide touches on a number of important issues at the intersection of law and ethics. Analyses presented in the article demonstrate that the most important elements of this debate concern the understanding of the dignity of human life, the relationship that exists between law and morality, and the limits of our freedom.
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