Germans can choose to die

NEW LAW: COURT RULING LIFTS BAN ON PROFESSIONAL ASSISTED SUICIDE IN THE COUNTRY

Medics won’t face prosecution for prescribing life-terminating drugs.

Germany’s highest court yesterday ruled that a 2015 law banning professional assisted suicide was unconstitutional, as it robbed terminally ill patients of “the right to a self-determined death”.

Judge Andreas Vosskuhle said the right included “the freedom to take one’s life and seek help doing so”.

The ruling is a major victory for the terminally ill patients, doctors and assisted suicide organisations who brought the case, complaining that the existing law went too far.

Known as Paragraph 217, the 2015 legislation penalised anyone offering assisted suicide as a professional service, whether they accepted payment or not.

It was mainly aimed at barring associations dedicated to supporting patients wanting to end their lives, but also meant medical personnel faced prosecution for prescribing life-terminating drugs.

The legal uncertainty worsened when a 2017 lower court ruled that officials could not refuse lethal medication in extreme

cases.

Yesterday’s verdict was closely watched in a fast-ageing country where Catholic and Protestant churches still exert strong influence, but polls show growing public support for assisted suicide.

It is also a particularly sensitive subject in Germany as the Nazis used what they euphemistically called “euthanasia” to exterminate about 200 000 disabled people.

“The right to live does not constitute an obligation to live,”

Germany’s constitution guarantees dignity

Wolfgang Putz, one of those who brought the case, told judges.

At the heart of the debate was the plaintiffs’ argument that Germany’s constitution guarantees personal freedom and dignity.

For seriously ill patients who have chosen to end their life, the existing legislation made it “almost impossible to carry out that decision in a dignified manner”, said Christoph Knauer, who represented two of the plaintiffs.

Judge Vosskuhle said Paragraph 217 “also violates the basic rights of persons and associations who wish to provide suicide assistance”. –