Italy's assisted‑suicide legislation delayed as CNR chief blocks proposal

Andrea Lenzi, president of Italy’s National Research Council (CNR), told the Senate that no device compliant with European standards existed for allowing fully paralysed patients to self‑administer lethal medication. The claim was false – the CNR had built such a device months earlier for a case known as “Libera”, a woman with multiple sclerosis who died in March 2026 using an ocular pointer. Lenzi’s misleading testimony caused the proposed assisted‑suicide bill to be sent back to committee, making it unlikely to pass before the end of the legislative term.

The controversy has sparked broader debate over the province‑level draft law on medically assisted suicide. Legal scholars argue that autonomy must be balanced with responsibility, urging a uniform national framework rather than fragmented regional rules. They caution that expanding public health services to include assisted‑suicide procedures would entail new safeguards, funding, and oversight, and note the Constitutional Court’s limited non‑punishment area already in place.