The end-of-life law returns to the Commission. The anger of the opposition

“Sunk”. For the opposition the fate of end-of-life law it is marked. A belief fueled by the new referral to commission in the Senate voted by the centre-right majority. The arrival in the Chamber at Palazzo Madama seemed to be a done deal after the vote of the conference of group leaders, which was unanimous. Hence the anger of the opposition. For Elly Schlein it is a “shameful” decision, even more so on the day in which a woman from Trieste named Lucia goes to Switzerland “to get those answers that she cannot have in Italy”. The postponement was, however, in the air.

The theme of the involvement of the NHS

The issue remains that of the involvement or otherwise of the National Health Service. The bureaus of the Social Affairs and Justice committees of the Senate also met this morning. On the agenda, the hearing of the Higher Institute of Health. Meanwhile, a written response has arrived from the National Research Center: “At present, there are no devices regularly authorized for marketing with the CE mark for the self-administration of drugs that can be suitably used in the procedure of voluntary medically assisted death by an immobilized person or in any case otherwise unable to self-administer the lethal drug, nor are there any projects relating to the recalled devices being studied or being implemented”, writes President Andrea Lenzi. In the afternoon, the House voted with 88 votes in favour, 59 against and no abstentions, approving the request for suspension made by the majority.

The position of Forza Italia and FdI

“The request to return to the Commission on the end of life is not a delaying strategy”, assures the president of the Forza Italia senators Stefania Craxi who claims for his party the choice of wanting to “bring this dossier back to the center of the discussion because we believe that Parliament can no longer avoid a matter that concerns the person, his freedom, his dignity”. For Ignazio Zulloco-rapporteur of the law and FdI group leader in the Health commission “the commission that wanted to share an objective: to arrive at a bill that is as shared as possible for the good of Italians, avoiding ideological ambitions”.

The anger of the opposition

Il centre-lefthowever, reacts with one voice. “It is sad and surprising to read the statements of the FI group leader in the Senate”, write the Dem group leaders of the Chamber and Senate in a joint note, Chiara Braga e Francesco Boccia: “You are the first to know that it is the majority which, divided, definitively undermines a necessary, long-awaited law invoked by the Constitutional Court”, they add, recalling that “the ddl Bazoli signed by all the oppositions it represented a serious point of balance between personal self-determination, public responsibility and protection of human dignity. This is why today’s majority vote is a betrayal for those who suffer. Today it is demonstrated that the majority is the slave of the worst right”. The Five Star comment was bitter, Mariolina Castellone: “The request for suspension on the end of life does not surprise us, because for four years we have been accustomed to the fact that the majority take time when they do not want to make uncomfortable decisions. But this time we are talking about people who suffer and who unfortunately do not have time”. AND Riccardo Magisecretary of Più Europa, comments: “As always, the Italian right represents the human and legislative rearguard compared to what happens in the rest of Europe”.