After the first case of assisted suicide, what happens now in Italy?

After the first case of assisted suicide

"And tomorrow during the press conference try not to cry." On June 16 Mario died. Mario was called Federico Carboni, he was 44 years old, he lived in Senigallia and he is the first person in Italy to have requested and obtained assisted suicide. Federico was able to choose thanks to the sentence 242 of the Constitutional Court, even if after that sentence the State disappeared. Although it took months and months, three warnings, a complaint for torture and omission of official documents, a thousand requests for the recognition of a right. (Fabio Ridolfi couldn't wait any longer and chose deep and continuous sedation).

He thought it would take less time, Federico told Filomena Gallo, lawyer and secretary of the Luca Association Coscioni. Maybe he had to go like this, he added, but the last few days have been terrible. Thanks to Federico, the end of life law that is under discussion is useless and even harmful. Because today those in similar conditions can decide to resort to assisted suicide in Italy. There is no need for a law, and above all there is no need for the one they have been discussing for months and months which is inadequate and discriminatory for sick people.

What Federico achieved ("a voluntary death on average assisted", said Marco Cappato, treasurer of the Luca Coscioni Association, during the press conference) is now a little more possible. “Thanks to Federico, if the law were to be the one under discussion, it would be better not to do it. It would be a useless and counterproductive law because it would restrict the possibilities of what is already possible today. And that it is possible in practice and not in theory Federico Carboni has shown to the world ”, Cappato's words.

What would be the point of making a law that worsens a sentence? What the law should do is: eliminate the discrimination of life support (cancer patients, for example, do not have respirators or other vital supports) and indicate times for verifying the conditions and therefore for the exercise of a right. The law under discussion does not.

Gallo and Cappato, during the press conference, thanked Federico for having chosen the more difficult route, because it would have been easier and faster to go to Switzerland. What he has achieved is and will be important for all the others who want to choose. If the state is absent and remains imprisoned in a thousand excuses and in an eternal procrastination, it is necessary to replace the state. And the state has not only neglected Federico, but all those who really would like to have the right to choose (which also includes that of not choosing, of course). And he did so also with the exasperating slowness with which he replied to Federico and with which he discussed (he postponed and postponed) a law that is now outdated and that would worsen sentence 242 and which, as already said, is really useless.

Federico, the day before self-administering the drug, thanked Gallo and the Association for having protected and helped him in these two years (Mario Riccio is the doctor who monitored the procedure, Massimo Clara and Giordano Gagliardini). These two years that have been very long. He chose to be called "Mario" because if his name came up he would not have endured the pressure, the questions and the comments. And he couldn't stand them for his mother. The comments that are the usual of those who can not shut up, and then advises, blather that it would be better to choose palliative care, suggests that it would be appropriate to resort to psychiatric treatment other than assisted suicide. All without even knowing the person they are sure they know what the good is. It had happened with Piergiorgio Welby, it happened with Mario / Federico, it will always happen.

Time for those who wait is different, it is very long, it is not like that of those who get up, go for a walk, have a coffee without even thinking about it. The time for those who wait is different, let alone how long two years are. Because two years have passed since Federico wrote to Marco Cappato. He wanted to go to Switzerland. “But do you know that it is also possible in Italy? ”Cappato told him. It has been possible since the Court declared suicide aid legitimate. Possible, but not easy. Almost impossible.

When the indications on the modalities and the drug finally arrive on 9 February 2022, there is another hitch: the state does not pay for what it takes. Perhaps the only thing for which a law on assisted suicide would be needed is to facilitate procedures. But the institutional will would also suffice for that. If the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza really wanted to avoid "obstruction" he would have the powers and the faculty. The secretary of the Democratic Party Enrico Letta who would be ashamed “if this legislature ended without the law on assisted suicide that the Council also asked of us. It would be a shame for Italy ". The law under discussion, however, risks not bringing the hoped-for benefits.

Frederick's last days have been extremely tiring. He couldn't sit for more than an hour. “My body can't take it anymore. I lived well, I will also miss these years after the accident but now I can't take it anymore. I go away with a smile. And tomorrow during the press conference try not to cry ”, Federico told Filomena Gallo two days ago.

Then he also asked why if one does everything according to the law, the State does not answer him and ignores him. And what will happen next, that is, if these two years - with the warnings and the request to respect a right - will also be of use to someone else. The first question is difficult and embarrassing to answer. The second one, on the other hand, is easy: it will be very useful, it will be useful to those who want it, it will be useful and while Federico was asking in every way that his right was respected, too many pretended not to have the duty to answer him. Federico died because he wanted it that way. He chose, as he had chosen not to reveal his identity before his death. The question is perhaps almost all here: whether we can choose or not.