International

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

August 5, 2019 - Av 4, 5779

news

“Assisted suicide: here is why I voted against”

By Pagine Ebraiche staff

“I would like for it to become a useful instrument, extensively supported by documents, which will help legislators make considered decisions. We decided to shed some light on this topic, listing its pros and cons”, claimed lawyer Lorenzo D’Avack, President of the National Committee for Bioethics, summarising the intense discussion which brought forward three different opinions on the legalisation of assisted suicide within the Committee.

By consulting the debate minutes on the Committee website, it becomes clear that the issue has been dealt with “knowing that it would give rise to opposing views both within the Committee and the society”. Among those against assisted suicide was Rav Riccardo Di Segni, Chief Rabbi of Rome Jewish Community and vice-president of the Committee.

“It should be clear – he told Pagine Ebraiche – that assisted suicide does not mean active euthanasia, i.e. a person put an end to another person’s life, but a situation in which a free individual consciously decides to end their own existence and turns to a healthcare professional in order to obtain a specific drug, which the patient will administer themselves.”

“We decided to express our opinion on this delicate topic, Rav Di Segni continued, following a last year’s ruling of the Italian Constitutional Court, which was called upon to assess the constitutionality of the rule of the Italian Civil Code prohibiting assisted suicide.

“The Court, he pointed out, did not rule but gave the Parliament one year’s time to decide whether they wanted to amend the current ban on assisted suicide.” While waiting for a new law or else for the Court’s ruling, the Committee, which is an advisory body for the Government and the institutions, has delivered its opinion “where it examined the implications of the issue and the different standpoints on it” in order to provide the Parliament with accurate data.

The opinion has been adopted, “because it is highly informative and pluralistic”, and, in spite of all the different standpoints, an agreement was reached on some final recommendations which were unanimously welcomed. Nevertheless, all the various opinions presented in the document remain such and, Rav Di Segni clarified, have been summarised into three: A (against), B (in favour) and C (in favour with reservation). The most popular opinion has been B, with 13 votes, then A with 11 and C with 2.

In observance with the laws of Halakhah, Di Segni chose A. “Some members of the Committee are against the legalisation, both ethical and legal, of assisted suicide, and they all believe that the defence of human life must be asserted as a fundamental principle of bioethics, regardless of its philosophical and religious basis. Moreover, they believe that doctors have the absolute duty to fully respect patients’ lives and that “assisting death” is unacceptable, since it goes against the philosophy of “curing and taking care of” people.

*Translated by Mattia Stefani and revised by Sara Facelli, both students at the Advanced School for Interpreters and Translators of Trieste University and interns at the newspaper office of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities.

moked è il portale dell'ebraismo italiano

This newsletter is published under difficult conditions. The editors of this newsletter are Italian journalists whose native language is Italian. They are willing to offer their energy and their skills to give international readers the opportunity of learning more about the Italian Jewish world, its values, its culture and its traditions.
In spite of all our efforts to avoid this, readers may find an occasional language mistake. We count on your understanding and on your help and advice to correct these mistakes and improve our publication.

Pagine Ebraiche International Edition is published by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI). UCEI publications encourage an understanding of the Jewish world and the debate within it. The articles and opinions published by Pagine Ebraiche International Edition, unless expressly stated otherwise, cannot be interpreted as the official position of UCEI, but only as the self-expression of the people who sign them, offering their comments to UCEI publications. Readers who are interested in making their own contribution should email us at desk@ucei.it
You received this newsletter because you authorized UCEI to contact you. If you would like to remove your email address from our list, or if you would like to subscribe using a new email address, please send a blank email to desk@ucei.it stating "unsubscribe" or "subscribe" in the subject field.

© UCEI - All rights reserved - The articles may only be reproduced after obtaining the written permission of the editor-in-chief. Pagine Ebraiche - Reg Rome Court 199/2009 – Editor in Chief: Guido Vitale.
Special thanks to: Francesco Moises Bassano, Susanna Barki, Amanda Benjamin, Monica Bizzio, Angelica Edna Calò Livne, Eliezer Di Martino, Alain Elkann, Dori Fleekop, Daniela Fubini, Benedetta Guetta, Sarah Kaminski, Daniel Leisawitz, Annette Leckart, Gadi Luzzatto Voghera, Yaakov Mascetti, Francesca Matalon, Jonathan Misrachi, Anna Momigliano, Giovanni Montenero, Elèna Mortara, Sabina Muccigrosso, Lisa Palmieri Billig, Jazmine Pignatello, Shirley Piperno, Giandomenico Pozzi, Daniel Reichel, Colby Robbins, Danielle Rockman, Lindsay Shedlin, Michael Sierra, Rachel Silvera, Adam Smulevich, Simone Somekh, Rossella Tercatin, Ada Treves, Lauren Waldman, Sahar Zivan.

Questo notiziario è realizzato in condizioni di particolare difficoltà. I redattori di questo notiziario sono giornalisti italiani di madrelingua italiana. Mettono a disposizione le loro energie e le loro competenze per raccontare in lingua inglese l'ebraismo italiano, i suoi valori, la sua cultura e i suoi valori. Nonostante il nostro impegno il lettore potrebbe trovare errori e imperfezioni nell'utilizzo del linguaggio che faremo del nostro meglio per evitare. Contiamo sulla vostra comprensione e soprattutto sul vostro aiuto e sul vostro consiglio per correggere gli errori e migliorare.

Pagine Ebraiche International Edition è una pubblicazione edita dall'Unione delle Comunità Ebraiche Italiane. L'UCEI sviluppa mezzi di comunicazione che incoraggiano la conoscenza e il confronto delle realtà ebraiche. Gli articoli e i commenti pubblicati, a meno che non sia espressamente indicato il contrario, non possono essere intesi come una presa di posizione ufficiale, ma solo come la autonoma espressione delle persone che li firmano e che si sono rese gratuitamente disponibili. Gli utenti che fossero interessati a offrire un proprio contributo possono rivolgersi all'indirizzo desk@ucei.it

Avete ricevuto questo messaggio perché avete trasmesso a Ucei l'autorizzazione a comunicare con voi. Se non desiderate ricevere ulteriori comunicazioni o se volete comunicare un nuovo indirizzo email, scrivete a: desk@ucei.it indicando nell'oggetto del messaggio "cancella" o "modifica".

© UCEI - Tutti i diritti riservati - I testi possono essere riprodotti solo dopo aver ottenuto l'autorizzazione scritta della Direzione. Pagine Ebraiche International Edition - notiziario dell'ebraismo italiano - Reg. Tribunale di Roma 199/2009 - direttore responsabile: Guido Vitale.
Realizzato con il contributo di: Francesco Moises Bassano, Susanna Barki, Amanda Benjamin, Monica Bizzio, Angelica Edna Calò Livne, Eliezer Di Martino, Alain Elkann, Dori Fleekop, Daniela Fubini, Benedetta Guetta, Sarah Kaminski, Daniel Leisawitz, Annette Leckart, Gadi Luzzatto Voghera, Yaakov Mascetti, Francesca Matalon, Jonathan Misrachi, Anna Momigliano, Giovanni Montenero, Elèna Mortara, Sabina Muccigrosso, Lisa Palmieri Billig, Jazmine Pignatello, Shirley Piperno, Giandomenico Pozzi, Daniel Reichel, Colby Robbins, Danielle Rockman, Lindsay Shedlin, Michael Sierra, Rachel Silvera, Adam Smulevich, Simone Somekh, Rossella Tercatin, Ada Treves, Lauren Waldman, Sahar Zivan.