right to assisted suicide Archives - Verfassungsblog

Supported by:

31 March 2025

Pier Francesco Bresciani

Assisted Suicide the Italian Way

More than 5 years ago, the Italian Constitutional Court ruled that assisted suicide must be permitted under specific conditions. Yet, Parliament’s inability to legislate has left this right in legal limbo. Now, recent regional actions could break the deadlock. The Italian region of Tuscany is setting an example for other sub-national legislatures to pass laws on the matter. This blog post argues that constitutional courts, and the ItCC in particular, should not stifle this kind of activism – especially when it steps in to uphold judicial mandates that the national legislature refuses to enforce. Continue reading >>

0

03 November 2023

The Right To Die Like The Trees: Standing

My name is dr. Dániel András Karsai. I am a human rights attorney. I am also terminally ill. In August 2022, I was diagnosed with ALS. ALS is a so-called motor neurone disease. ALS leads to an extremely humiliating life situation, increasingly depriving you of independence. For reasons unknown to medical science, this disease causes nerve cells that move the muscles to deteriorate, leading to muscle atrophy and ultimately complete paralysis. At the end of the disease, respiratory functions also cease, resulting in death by asphyxiation. The final stage of the disease is virtually a vegetative existence, without any possibility of conscious activity or communication. For me, this form of existence is devoid of all meaning and dignity. In this situation, I firmly believe in the arguable claim to demand the right to end my life with dignity instead of enduring meaningless suffering. Continue reading >>

6