{"id":303616,"date":"2023-12-18T12:38:28","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T18:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=303616"},"modified":"2023-12-18T09:58:45","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T15:58:45","slug":"woman-assisted-suicide-national-health-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-assisted-suicide-national-health-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman becomes first to commit assisted suicide using Italy’s National Health Service"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A woman has become the first to die in Italy by assisted suicide with the help of the country’s National Health Service.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reports indicate<\/a> that the 55-year-old woman, known as Anna, chose to end her life because she had multiple sclerosis. The pro-assisted death Luca Coscioni Association announced the woman\u2019s death, saying she was “the first Italian woman to have completed the procedure envisaged by the Constitutional Court with the Cappato ruling, with the direct assistance of the National Health Service.”<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2019, the country\u2019s Constitutional Court decriminalized assisted suicide under certain conditions and with the approval of local health authorities and an ethics board. Anna is now the third person<\/a> since that time known to have undergone assisted suicide. <\/span><\/p>\n

Though it is decriminalized, the country still does not have legalized euthanasia, though the ability of Anna to access suicide drugs with the help of the National Health Service reveals a troubling trend towards more liberalized laws. Others are continuing to advocate for greater access to assisted suicide in the country; last month, an actress traveled to Switzerland<\/a> to kill herself because she was told she did not qualify for assisted death in Italy. She recorded a video message before her death, advocating for broader laws.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n