This law does not protect, it gags

“Disproportionate, poorly justified, unnecessary” – with these words, the Alliance for Self-Determination at the End of Life has taken stock of the new ban on assisted suicide. In a statement published on Wednesday on Section 217 of the German Criminal Code (StGB), it states that the regulation “deprives people who are seriously determined to shorten their suffering through suicide of almost all professional help. This will not reduce fears of the dying process; on the contrary, uncontrollable, desperate suicide attempts that endanger third parties will increase.” It also states that the law is disproportionately strict and incompatible with the constitutional requirement of certainty due to the legal uncertainty created for all parties involved. Section 217 of the German Criminal Code (StGB), which was passed by a majority in the Bundestag on November 6, 2015, punishes the “commercial promotion” of suicide with up to three years’ imprisonment. Until the new law came into force, assisted suicide and suicide itself were exempt from punishment, even if the assisted suicide was carried out more than once, e.g. by a qualified doctor. “The legislator has unlawfully disregarded this sensible principle,” reads the statement from the alliance, which was co-founded by the Humanist Association of Germany in March 2014 and in which eight humanist organizations are represented. The alliance now sees its fears confirmed that the law will lead to considerable uncertainty among patients and doctors. Under these circumstances, it is already almost impossible for doctors and other professionals in palliative care and hospice wards to talk openly with people who want to commit suicide. In conclusion, the law “does not take into account the need and the right of the population of our country to a self-determined death.” The criminal ban on organized assisted suicide must therefore be lifted. “The new ban on assisted suicide is a terrible shackle for all people who, due to their suffering, consciously and decisively no longer want to live,” said Erwin Kress, Vice President of the Humanist Association of Germany and spokesperson for autonomy at the end of life, on Wednesday. Open-ended suicide counseling by psychologically qualified specialists, which could be offered to terminally ill patients until the new law was passed, had become practically impossible as a result of the ban. “In hospice work, we also see ourselves restricted in the advice and help we can offer to desperate people, for example when it comes to questions about voluntarily giving up food and fluids,” continued Erwin Kress. Hopes are therefore now initially pinned on the Federal Constitutional Court and the objections that renowned lawyers and criminal law experts – such as Eric Hilgendorf, Wolfgang Putz and Torsten Verrel – have announced there. “Section 217 of the Criminal Code does not protect, it gags. The ban on assisted suicide is not compatible with our humanistic ideas of the right to individual self-determination. We firmly reject this paternalism imposed not least by the churches, which restricts both our self-determination and freedom of conscience without good reason,” said Kress.