Veneto approves assisted-dying law, Zaia calls it a “necessary response”

Veneto’s regional council has approved a popular initiative law on end-of-life care, making the region the fourth in Italy to authorize procedures and timelines for healthcare assistance with medically assisted suicide.

The vote passed with 32 lawmakers in favor, 14 against and five abstentions. Veneto is the first center-right-governed region in Italy to approve such a measure, after Tuscany, Sardinia and Emilia-Romagna.

Regional Council President Luca Zaia called the decision a “necessary response” for patients who receive approval from an ethics committee. “With this law, a procedure is essentially approved, within the limits of legal legitimacy, to manage, as far as possible, any patient who has received approval from the ethics committee. It was necessary to provide this response to the very few patients who come forward,” Zaia said.

He said 31 requests had been submitted in Veneto since 2019 and that only three had received ethics committee authorization.

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With this law, a procedure is essentially approved, within the limits of legal legitimacy, to manage, as far as possible, any patient who has received approval from the ethics committee. It was necessary to provide this response to the very few patients who come forward.