Assisted Suicide in South Tyrol: SVP Reverses Course. Vice President Galateo: 'There was a risk of creating death tourism'

The debate over end-of-life choices in South Tyrol has abruptly halted as provincial health councilor Hubert Messner withdrew a proposed law on assisted suicide. The proposal, part of the Omnibus 71/26 bill, was retracted after an extraordinary three-hour meeting of the Südtiroler Volkspartei (SVP) on Friday, June 26. This reversal came despite an initial approval in committee and followed consultations with ethics, theology, and palliative care experts.

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Assisted medical suicide wants to give dignity to the final moments of a life, it respects autonomy, individual freedom and self-determination, things as sacred to me as a secular person.

SVP Secretary Harald Stauder stated that any provincial law on the matter would only proceed after extensive public debate and community engagement. This decision marks a significant shift from Messner's previous firm stance. Just days earlier, Messner, drawing on his intensive care experience, had argued that assisted suicide respects individual autonomy and dignity, stating it was a political duty to manage the phenomenon and prevent patients from seeking such options abroad. He cited the case of a friend who traveled to Switzerland to end his life due to an irreversible illness.

The unexpected turn reflects a search for compromise, particularly with right-wing coalition partners. Marco Galateo, Vice President of the Province and a member of Brothers of Italy, welcomed the withdrawal, warning of the risk of creating "death tourism" and raising ethical questions about societal burdens. He stressed that "every life must be defended until the end" and advocated for increased investment in palliative care, which he believes can accompany patients without pain.

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We cannot have different rules from region to region; the concrete risk is creating a tourism of death.

Galateo questioned who would determine which lives are "still worth living" and warned against the potential expansion of assisted suicide, citing examples abroad. He asserted that individual freedom is not at stake, as current laws allow for the refusal of treatments and dignified end-of-life care. The true challenge, he argued, lies in strengthening these existing support systems rather than introducing new ones. He posed a rhetorical question: "If we see someone wanting to jump off a bridge, is the state's job to help them die or to do everything to save them?" Criticisms of Messner also emerged from within the SVP's social democratic wing.

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Who will establish which life is still worth living?