domenica 17 dicembre 2006



In attesa di leggere, commentare  e diffondere la sentenza con la quale il giudice Angela Salvio, nel riconoscere in linea di principio il diritto di Piergiorgio Welby alla autodeterminazione, ha respinto la sua richiesta di ottenere il distacco dalle macchine in quanto non previsto dal codice vigente, trascrivo la notizia subito divulgata in merito dalla Federazione mondiale delle associazioni per morire con dignità (WFRTDS). GPS

 

ROME (AP) — A Rome judge on Saturday rejected the request by a man, paralyzed with muscular dystrophy, to be taken off a respirator, friends of the man said. The man's appeal sparked a new euthanasia debate in traditionally Catholic Italy.

Judge Angela Salvio, in rejecting Piergiorgio Welby's request, said there was a vacuum in Italian law on the issue and that Parliament should do something about it, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Court officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Marco Cappato, a member of the Radical Party which is championing Welby's cause, said Welby and his family has been informed about the judge's decision.

"We will have to decide how to act to protect his wishes," Cappato told state TV without elaborating.

Welby's repeated pleas have divided politicians and doctors in Italy, where euthanasia is banned. The Catholic Church, whose teaching forbids euthanasia, wields much moral and political influence in Italy.

Confined to a bed, Welby can only move his lips and eyebrows, needs a respirator to breathe and communicates through a voice synthesizer.

Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy as a teenager, Welby, 60, has use a machine to breathe for the last six months and receives nourishment through a feeding tube.

Vigils to show solidarity for Welby were scheduled to be held in dozens of Italian cities on Saturday night.

Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, in a message for vigil participants, said it was impossible not to "share his drama, his suffering" and that it was "fundamental" to grapple with the agonizing questions Welby's request have raised.

Earlier this fall, October, Welby appealed to President Giorgio Napolitano for euthanasia to be legalized in the nation so that he could request it, but the head of state has no legislative powers.

A Senate committee has been hearing arguments on the issue of allowing people to decide in advance in a living will how they want to be treated if they become incapacitated in the last stages of a terminal illness.

The Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia in 2001.

Belgium legalized it under strict conditions in 2002.

In the United States, voters in the state of Oregon approved the first physician-assisted suicide law in the U.S. in 1994. The law took effect after an appeals court lifted a block in 1997.




(Mailing list di Libera Uscita)

Nessun commento:

Posta un commento