Lo scudo e la spada. Una lettura bioetica della sentenza 242/2019 in materia di suicidio assistito

Abstract

After the sentence 242/2019 of the Italian Constitutional Court was pronounced, there has been a growing debate on the moral and legal problem of assisted suicide. This article explores the controversial nature of certain situations and states that the dramatic nature of the request for death that accompanies them does not suggest a legalization, but, if anything, a possible decriminalization to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. In short, the fact that assisted suicide remains a legally prohibited act does not mean that it must also always be criminally liable. To the objection that, in the absence of open legalisation, the right to self-determination would be violated, making life difficult for those who would need to go abroad in order to obtain what they ask for, the article replies that, also on the basis of the reasoning of the Court, a full legitimation of assisted suicide would create as many problems as it would solve.