Enabling people to die with dignity in Germany too

“At least a partial success was achieved before the ECtHR in that the ignorance of the German courts was reprimanded. However, we regret that the Court has not ruled on the question of the authorization of sodium pentobarbital,” said Erwin Kress, Vice President of the Humanist Association of Germany. “We are of the opinion that the Federal Office for Drugs should allow the prescription of sodium pentobarbital in certain cases.” Kress continued: “It is unacceptable for Germany to abandon people who want to commit suicide. These people are being left alone by our state in their distress. What about those who do not have sufficient mobility, a supportive environment or sufficient financial means to make use of a professional euthanasia organization? Sometimes there is no life left to protect because the person capitulates to the horrors of death. Then we must not deny them medical assistance and suitable medication to enable them to die in a self-determined way. This is where legislators are called upon to regulate assisted suicide by doctors, for example. If patients decide to end their lives consciously and without pressure after weighing up all the alternatives, they should be able to receive professional support. There are, after all, clinical pictures and disease progressions where, for example, even good palliative care can do no more than sedate the dying person, i.e. put them into a deathly sleep. No one can be blamed if they prefer to consciously say goodbye and die. It’s absurd: the federal government wants to ban commercial assisted suicide in Germany, but it is precisely this that is being promoted in Switzerland, where seriously ill people who are willing to die often have to go there.”