Tuscan bishop laments passage of right-to-die law in Italy, calls it a 'defeat for everyone'

(OSV News) -- The head of the Tuscan Bishops' Conference said the passage of a new law in Italy allowing medically assisted suicide was "not an achievement, but a defeat for everyone."

In a statement published by the Italian bishops' conference Feb. 11, Cardinal Augusto Paolo Lojudice of Siena, president of the regional bishops' conference, said the new law passed by the Regional Council of Tuscany "will not limit our action in favor of life, always and in every case."

"To the chaplains in hospitals, to the religious sisters, to the religious brothers, and to the volunteers who work in hospices and in all those places where every day people are confronted with illness, pain, and death, I say do not give up and continue to be bearers of hope, of life; despite everything," he wrote.

According to the Reuters news agency, the Regional Council of Tuscany approved the law Feb. 11, becoming the first Italian region, which includes major cities such as Florence, Pisa and Siena, to approve the regulation of assisted suicide.

In 2019, Italy's Constitutional Court effectively legalized assisted suicide, calling on Parliament to establish a legal framework for the procedure with lawmakers not eager to address the issue, leaving the matter unresolved, Reuters reported.

The new law issues regulations on how requests for medically assisted suicide should be handled and allows doctors to refuse to participate on moral grounds.

Prior to the law's passage, the Italian bishops' conference issued a statement in late January, ahead of debates on the proposed legislation, urging politicians not to "make this issue a matter of 'taking sides' but to make it an opportunity for deep reflection on the foundations of their own conception of progress and the dignity of the human person."

Citing the Tuscan region's history of caring for the most vulnerable, the bishops said the region's legacy in establishing "the first hospitals, the first orphanages, the associations dedicated to the care of the sick and dying" must remain alive.

The bishops urged the legislators that "in a moment of crisis of the regional health care system," they should prioritize palliative care and support to those in need rather "than drafting 'symbolic laws.'"

"Human life is an absolute value, also protected by the Constitution: There is no 'right to die' but rather the right to be cared for, and the health care system exists to improve the conditions of life and not to bring death," the bishops said.

The new law's passage was also criticized by Antonio Brandi, president of Pro Vita & Famiglia, a Catholic organization focused on right-to-life issues, who called the legislation "barbaric and inhumane."

The law "will push thousands of sick, frail, elderly, lonely and marginalized people who will feel like a 'burden' to family members and society toward 'state-sponsored death,'" he said in a statement published Feb. 11.

Brandi also called on the Italian government to challenge the new law in the country's Constitutional Court because "it seeks to legislate on a matter that could only be addressed by the national legislator."

"At stake is not only the respect of the Constitution, but above all the protection of the most fragile lives, which should be defended, cared for, and accompanied in the final phase with closeness, care and compassion through an effective application of palliative care," he wrote.