The Grand and General Council (Consiglio Grande e Generale) returns today, Wednesday 4 November, to Palazzo Pubblico, after six months of sittings at the Kursaal to allow for renovation work on the institutional seat.
At the centre of the resumed parliamentary activity will be the second reading of the bill on end-of-life care and advance healthcare directives, which originated from a popular initiative promoted by the Emma Rossi Association.
Before tackling the measure, the Chamber will first be called upon to complete the ratification of four decrees concerning social tariffs, mortuary police regulations, leave for political office, and welfare provisions, as well as the implementation of the Pos Rsm system through the new San Marino Pay application.
The end-of-life proposal aims to introduce a framework allowing citizens to state in advance their wishes regarding medical treatment, should they later find themselves unable to express them.
The text, amended during committee review, also provides for Shared Care Planning, new provisions on palliative care, and the recognition of artificial nutrition and hydration as medical treatments. It further specifies that the law does not permit euthanasia or assisted suicide.
Committee examination concluded in June with 12 votes in favour and 3 abstentions, the latter coming from Repubblica Futura and Domani Motus Liberi.
The majority maintains that the amendments strengthened the medical and legal safeguards without altering the framework of the original proposal. The opposition, however, raised concerns about certain aspects, particularly regarding protections for the most vulnerable, artificial nutrition, and the legal weight of advance directives.
Rete had announced its support for the measure, withdrawing the alternative bill it had presented, while still criticising the lack of more in-depth political debate.
Satisfaction with the legislative process was also expressed by the Emma Rossi Association. Its president, Patricia Busignani, had nonetheless voiced regret over the absence of a unanimous vote and over the rejection of the form attached to the advance treatment directives.
The document will need to be prepared by the Social Security Institute (Istituto per la Sicurezza Sociale) within 60 days of the law’s entry into force, should the measure be definitively approved.
