The German Parliament has this month passed a bill into law allowing assisted dying in certain limited circumstances. The Bill was one of four considered, which ranged from fully permitting assisted suicide as long as it is not for profit, to a near-complete ban. The version passed by a 360-233 majority of MPs occupied a somewhat middle ground between these two extremes. The Bill, favoured by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, permits assisted suicide for ‘altruistic motives’ but bans the practice in cases where it is being conducted on a ‘business’ basis. Assisted suicide had previously been a grey area in Germany; neither permitted nor banned by law.
Some MPs criticised the Bill as being uncertain and potentially leading to charges against doctors. The Bill threatens up to three years imprisonment for anyone who offers suicide to someone else on ‘business terms’. Former Minister for Justice Brigitte Zypries said the measure “will open an era of great legal uncertainty” and will certainly be appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court. She questioned “[w]hen does a doctor behave in a business fashion?”
Assisted suicide is, of course, a globally contentious issue. A similar bill, ‘The End of Life Option Bill’, was recently passed in California. This Bill allows doctors to prescribe medication to end a patient’s life if two doctors agree the person has only six months to live and is mentally competent. The Bill makes California the fourth US state to permit some form of assisted suicide. Elsewhere, the way is now clear in for similar legislation in Canada with the Supreme Court striking down the country’s ban on assisted suicide. The Court held that to criminalise aiding and abetting suicide was unconstitutional under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Click here for the Press Release of the German Parliament (in German).
Click here for the Californian End of Life Bill.
Click here for the Canadian case of Carter v Canada.