A 44-year-old woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) from Italy’s Campania region has appealed to judges after her local health authority (ASL) denied her request for medically assisted suicide. The woman, identified by the pseudonym “Coletta” to protect her anonymity, stated: “I have the right not to be condemned to suffer.” Her case, publicized by the Luca Coscioni Association, marks the third such request in the region. Coletta describes herself as “a conscious, lucid, and determined citizen,” unable to accept that her will “is crushed by assessments that seem to ignore not only my state of health but also the right not to be condemned to a suffering that no longer has any meaning for me.” She added, “If I cannot access a legally guaranteed choice in Italy, I am weighing the only feasible alternative: emigration to die with dignity in Switzerland.”
Filomena Gallo, National Secretary of the Luca Coscioni Association and Coletta’s lawyer, condemned the ASL’s refusal as “disconcerting and inhuman,” asserting it “completely contradicts the rulings of the Constitutional Court.” Marco Cappato, the association’s treasurer, highlighted legislative delays: “In Campania, our regional bill proposal filed over a year ago has never been discussed in the chamber. Last March, President Vincenzo De Luca himself blocked the law, declaring the need to open a consultation cycle starting with the Episcopal Conference. No consultation was actually organized, and the obstructionist move by President De Luca and his majority has effectively denied clear response times and procedures.”
Following the ASL’s initial refusal in June, Coletta challenged the denial, demanding an urgent reassessment of her condition and the transmission of the ethics committee’s opinion. The association reports the health authority failed to act on these requests, prompting Coletta to file an emergency appeal with the Naples Tribunal.