Tuscany's Regional Council has approved a historic law regulating assisted suicide, becoming the first Italian region to introduce legislation on the subject. With 27 votes in favor from the center-left and 13 against from the center-right, the bill, which had been put forward as a citizens' initiative by the Luca Coscioni association - which is strongly committed to the issue - got the go-ahead with some changes that, according to the Democratic Party, do not alter its basic principles. Among the main points of the law is the confirmation of free services and treatments provided by the regional health service in the context of the therapeutic-assistance pathway related to medically assisted suicide. The text provides that interested persons can apply for access to this procedure, while also establishing the timeframe and manner in which the commission in charge will verify the necessary requirements, as defined by the Constitutional Court, to ensure that aiding suicide does not constitute a crime.