Overview
- The Regional Council of Veneto approved the law on medically assisted suicide with 32 votes in favor, 14 against and 5 abstentions, finalizing a text changed by majority amendments.
- The law organizes the sanitary pathway for access within the Constitutional Court’s 2019 criteria and does not create a new substantive right to assisted suicide.
- Major amendments, many driven by Governor Alberto Stefani, strengthen the role of palliative specialists, require patients be informed about palliative care, create a regional bioethics committee, and make physician participation voluntary.
- The vote crossed party lines: key Lega figures and parts of Forza Italia joined PD, M5S, AVS and civic lists to form a transversal majority while Fratelli d’Italia and Futuro Nazionale opposed the measure.
- Supporters said the law will give certainty to the few patients who seek the procedure and urged Parliament to pass a national law to harmonize rules, while pro‑life groups and some church leaders vowed continued opposition.