Top court rules assisting suicide is sometimes legitimate

(ANSA) - Rome, September 26 - The political world is divided and the Catholic Church has expressed dismay after Italy's Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday that assisting suicide is lawful in some cases. The court's decision regarded the case of right-to-die activist Marco Cappato, who was accused of assisting suicide for helping 40-year-old blind and tetraplegic Italian ex-DJ Fabiano Antoniani, better known as DJ Fabo, take his own life at a Swiss clinic in 2017.
    The top court also called on parliament to pass legislation on end-of-life issues. Cappato hailed the ruling, saying "as of today, all of us in Italy are freer".
    Monica Cirinnà, a Senator for the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), said parliament must now pass legislation on this subject "soon" and do it "well". Italian bishops conference CEI, on the other hand, said it was disconcerted at this "grave decision".
    League leader Matteo Salvini said he would never allow "suicide by law" in Italy.
    Giorgia Meloni, the head of the rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, said the ruling was a defeat for parliament and for the nation.