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

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

and was a member of the

Italian Radical Party The Italian Radical Party (), also known as the Historical Radical Party (''Partito Radicale storico''), was a political party in Italy. Heir of the Historical Far Left and representative of Italy's political left in its beginning, with the ...

who promoted the campaign for the freedom of scientific research on

embryonic stem cells Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are Cell potency#Pluripotency, pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre-Implantation (human embryo), implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4� ...

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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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 : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

and of the principle of a “Biological Testament” (Living Will) promoted by Piergiorgio Welby, 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 and professed refusal of a citizenship, 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 cal ...

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