A German politician is reviving efforts to reform the country’s assisted suicide laws, two years after a previous attempt was unsuccessful in the Bundestag. Lars Castellucci, a member of the Social Democratic Party, is leading the initiative, which he believes will result in a clear and balanced regulation of assisted suicide.
A working group has been formed, with the goal of starting a successful legislative process as soon as possible. Castellucci emphasized the need to respect the decisions of individuals who want to end their lives on their own terms, while also preventing suicide from being perceived as a normal and acceptable practice that could put vulnerable people under pressure.
The German Ethics Council’s chairman, Helmut Frister, has welcomed the initiative, describing it as a positive and sensible step. Frister believes that the lack of a successor provision to the previously struck-down paragraph will increase the chances of a legislative solution being passed.
In 2015, the Bundestag passed a law prohibiting commercial and repeat assisted suicide, but the German Constitutional Court overturned it in 2020, citing a fundamental right to self-determined death. Since then, no concrete legislation has been established and two draft bills from different parties failed to gain a majority in parliament in 2023.