Martina’s new appeal for assisted suicide, ‘I ask for mercy’

TRIESTE, 25 JUNE – “This is not a right or left battle. Life and dignity belong to everyone. I’m tired. I only ask for mercy”: this is the new appeal from Martina Oppelli, the quadriplegic woman from Trieste suffering from multiple sclerosis , to which Asugi, the local health company, had denied access to medically assisted suicide. Today in Trieste, together with the Luca Coscioni association, you made your voice heard again. Speaking about the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region – after the Council’s halt to the regional popular initiative law proposal on the end of life -, Orpelli confirmed that she has “full confidence in this administration”. “But they must know – he added – that it is hard, even more so in the summer, when the fragile perhaps don’t even have air conditioning. Personally, for a few days now I have also had to deal with new allergies, towards a drug that helped me against the pain. I remain with a smile, but I can’t take it anymore. I hope it is understood that I have nothing against this administration – he reiterated – I too have chosen it. Filomena Gallo, national secretary of the Luca Coscioni Association, present today in Trieste, recalled that “we are not stopping. The bill that was presented here in Friuli Venezia Giulia, with the signatures of the citizens, intervened to establish certain times in the response that a healthcare company must give to a patient. Instead, patients are exposed to an endless wait.” (HANDLE).