Citation

von Solodkoff T. Med. Law 2019; 38(3): 505-514.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, International Centre of Medicine and Law)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

At the end of 2015 the German parliament passed a new law, entitled Business-like Suicide Assistance, that effectively ended a rather liberal legal take on assisted suicide in Germany. The motivation behind the law was to prohibit Right-to-Die organisations such as Sterbehilfe Deutschland e.V as well as repeatedly acting individuals from assisting people in committing suicide. In response to the passing of §217 several individuals and organisations appealed to the German Federal Constitutional Court, asking it to rule the law unconstitutional. The court started debating six appeals earlier in 2019, and a decision is expected to be communicated by autumn/winter 2019. This article outlines the new law and articulates some concerns. © 2019, William S. Hein & Co., Inc.. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

adult; human; female; male; Germany; assisted suicide; Euthanasia; motivation; article; major clinical study; euthanasia; physician; human experiment; right to die; offender; court; winter; organization; autumn; §217; Assisted Suicide; Business-Like; End of Life; German Criminal Code; German Law; Physician Assisted Suicide; Right-to-Die Organisation