The Coscioni Association launches its campaign in Lombardy

Will Lombardy follow Veneto’s lead on end-of-life care? The centre-right fears it, the centre-left hopes so. Since yesterday, the debate has taken on an institutional dimension with the submission to the Pirellone of 17,000 signatures (5,000 would have sufficed) collected by the Coscioni Association, calling for the approval of a bill modelled on the one passed in Veneto. The procedure involves examination by a committee and then in the plenary chamber within a maximum of nine months; a decision should be reached before the summer of 2027. PD councillor Carmela Rozza makes no secret of the fact that the outcome could be positive: “The political conditions are in place; some members of the majority have helped to collect the signatures. We won’t be debating a set-in-stone bill; there will be scope to incorporate amendments, such as the one tabled in Veneto which aims to strengthen provisions for palliative care.” Two years ago, the initiative was halted by a preliminary ruling on constitutionality, brought by Matteo Forte, which referred the task of legislating back to Parliament. Now Forte, who on Tuesday asked Councillor Bertolaso to amend the guidelines that allowed the first assisted suicide in Lombardy, reiterates the need for a national law and his opposition to the substance of the Coscioni Association’s proposal: “This is the position of the centre-right, which was already expressed two years ago with the vote in favour of the constitutionality challenge. I hope this stance will be reaffirmed when the bill comes before the assembly.”

It is difficult to predict the outcome at this stage. The figures suggest that the majority can rely on a solid contingent: 49 councillors out of 80. In addition, there is the newly formed Futuro Nazionale group, which has three members and is, in all likelihood, expected to vote against the motion. Is the matter settled? Not quite: within the Forza Italia group (11 members), there are some councillors who are explicitly in favour of the text, which is a copy of the one proposed by Zaia; the same applies to the League members (14) and the members of the civic list (3) linked to Fontana. The only group standing united is the 20-strong Fdi, but their position may not be enough; nor is any support expected from the Catholic wing of the PD, which has given the green light to the text proposed by the Coscioni Association.