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A recent decision by the Federal Court of Justice could mean a shift in boundaries beyond this case: The BGH acquitted a woman who had initially been convicted, even though she had injected her chronically seriously ill husband with a lethal dose of insulin. Prior to this, he had independently taken all the tablets available in the house in order to end his life. Erwin Kress, spokesman for the board of the Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands – Bundesverband, sees the landmark ruling of the Federal Court of Justice as a “double-edged sword”, as it strengthens the right to self-determination on the one hand, but could also encourage “abuse of assistance” on the other.

How self-determined can we decide about our own death? What ethical challenges does the genetic manipulation of embryos pose? And how can human lives be prioritized fairly in triage? The new issue of our humanist magazine “diesseits” is dedicated to questions of medical ethics. Read it now!

Every year on June 21, humanists around the world celebrate World Humanist Day. But in the last two years, many celebrations and events had to be canceled due to the pandemic. Instead of face-to-face encounters, we were limited to digital. Even though the pandemic is not yet over, we can finally meet in person again this year on this important humanist holiday. We have gathered the voices of committed humanists.

The second round of calls for applications for the Bertha von Suttner-Studienwerk (BvS) has begun: Students and doctoral candidates can now submit their documents for the Suttner Scholarship 2022 via the BvS website. Those who successfully complete the selection process will receive non-material and financial support.

Issue 130 of our humanist magazine sheds light on the state of our democracy and asks what we can (and must) do to maintain, promote and defend this system. Read it now!