Zangrillo calls for Parliament to pass a national end-of-life law

Italy’s Parliament should set a national course on end-of-life issues, Public Administration Minister Paolo Zangrillo said, warning that families should not have to navigate different regional rules during a crisis.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti Forum, Zangrillo said a family facing such a dramatic situation should not feel compelled to study the laws of different regions to find the one that suits them best. A national framework, he argued, would also help prevent medical tourism.

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I think that Parliament needs to express itself on end-of-life issues because we must avoid medical tourism and avoid a family facing such a dramatic situation feeling the need to study the rules of different regions to see which suits them best.

He pointed to action by three center-left regions and one center-right region as evidence that the issue does not belong to a single ideological camp. “This is not an issue belonging to one political side, but an issue felt by everyone,” he told ANSA.

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This is not an issue belonging to one political side, but an issue felt by everyone.

Zangrillo acknowledged that the subject involves highly sensitive questions about individual conscience. The Constitutional Court has already addressed it in several rulings, he said, but Parliament should act instead of leaving the matter to the court or to individual regions.

He called for a state law that respects different sensitivities and provides a path consistent with each person’s beliefs.

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I think it is appropriate that the Constitutional Court should not have to deal with this, nor should it be left to an individual region, but that there should be a state law that, while respecting different sensitivities, can chart a path respectful of everyone’s thinking.