Overview

• On April 30 the Florence tribunal raised a constitutional question about Article 579, challenging whether its criminal penalties for assisted suicide apply to doctors who administer lethal drugs to consenting patients.
• The Constitutional Court will hold a July 8 hearing to decide if physicians may bypass the ban on assisted suicide when patients lack the physical ability to self-administer medication.
• Libera, 55, has been fully paralyzed by primary progressive multiple sclerosis since 2007 and faces unbearable suffering after being approved for assisted suicide but unable to inject herself.
• Italy remains without a comprehensive end-of-life law following a 2019 court ruling, and Parliament is expected to present a draft bill by July 17 as regional statutes like Tuscany’s encounter legal challenges.
• Advocates from Associazione Luca Coscioni, led by Filomena Gallo and Marco Cappato, say allowing doctor administration is essential to uphold patient autonomy and constitutional protections.