The Luca Coscioni Association for the freedom of scientific research was founded on September 20, 2002 by

Luca Coscioni Luca Coscioni (16 July 1967 – 20 February 2006) was an Italian economist and politician. He was a professor of Environmental Economics at Università della Tuscia (Italy) who engaged very actively in the social and political spheres with t ...

, who had

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

and was a member of the

Italian Radical Party The Italian Radical Party ( it, Partito Radicale Italiano), also known as the Historical Radical Party (''Partito Radicale storico''), was a radical, republican, secularist and social-liberal political party in Italy. History Since 1877, t ...

who promoted the campaign for the freedom of scientific research on

embryonic stem cells Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre- implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist ...

Background and history

In 2001 he was the head of the list of Radical candidates in the political elections and received the support of 51 Nobel Prize Laureates worldwide. In 2005, the Association launched the pro-referendum campaign aimed at abrogating Law 40 which imposed a ban on assisted fertilization and on research on

, by collecting the signatures of over a million voters. Although the referendum query obtained a majority of votes, it was cancelled for not obtaining the required quorum pursuant to the pro-abstention campaign promoted by the Italian

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and by many political parties. The Association is also promoter of the World Congress for Freedom of Scientific Research, an international platform of scientists, patients and citizens. In 2006, it played a leading role in the legal and political battle in favour of

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

and of the principle of a “Biological Testament” (Living Will) promoted by

Piergiorgio Welby Piergiorgio Welby (26 December 1945 – 20 December 2006) was an Italian poet, painter and activist whose three-month-long battle to establish his right to die led to a debate about euthanasia in his country. Welby was diagnosed with muscula ...

, the President of the Association, who suffered from progressive

muscular dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...

. After having addressed an open letter to the Italian President of the Republic and having filed a petition with the competent Court to respect his will to die, Piergiorgio Welby died on December 20, 2006 after having received sedation and being disconnected from mechanical pulmonary ventilation thanks to an act of

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...

organized by the Luca Coscioni Association.

External links

Associazione Luca Coscioni

World Congress for Freedom of Scientific Research
{{authority control Genetics organizations Political organisations based in Italy Medical and health organisations based in Italy

Background and history

See also

External links