The law on end-of-life care and living wills has been approved, but for its promoters the work is far from over. Following the green light from the Grand and General Council (Consiglio Grande e Generale), granted on 6 November with 39 votes in favour and 5 abstentions, attention now turns to the measures needed to make it operational.
This is underlined by Patricia Busignani, president of the Emma Rossi Association and first signatory of the popular initiative bill, in an interview with San Marino RTV conducted by Mauro Torresi.
“We call it an important step for the Republic,” says Busignani. The outcome, she explains, meets a long-standing expectation among citizens and provides a legislative reference point for the right to decide which medical treatments to undergo, including at the end of life.
The absence of any votes against the law has been welcomed, though the assessment of the text is not without reservations. “However, changes were made that, from our point of view, are not improvements.”
The first step to follow concerns the decree needed to make the advance directives for medical treatment (DATS) operational within 60 days. Another measure will need to make organ donation a concrete possibility.
Among the contested choices is the decision to postpone, via decree, the adoption of the model form for drawing up DATS, which the promoters had included as an attachment to the original proposal.
“It was an important part of the law. It was decided to defer its adoption through a decree instead. So we will keep watching closely to make sure the intentions of the law’s promoters are actually put into practice.”
