GERMANY
14 April, 2006
First in Australia, Now Perhaps Germany
By Derek Humphry
ERGO
On March 27, three of the German Federal States
introduced in the Council of the Federal States (Bundesrat)
a proposal for a new German law which, if it became law, would
make it difficult to provide information on assisted suicide
or self-deliverance.
The proposal -- in translation -- is entitled 'Draft of a law
to prohibit the dissemination on a business basis of information
offering options of self-deliverance.'
The purpose behind this legislative move appears to be to force
the Swiss lawyer, Ludwig A Minnelli, to close down his recently
opened DIGNITATE office in Hanover. German members are entitled
to receive the same assistance as DIGNITAS, in Switzerland,
provides to its members -- physician-assisted suicide for the
terminally and hopelessly ill adult.
If passed, the law would probably affect all right-to-die organization
activities in Germany. It promises to be a controversial debate.On
6 January 2006, the Australian federal government introduced
the Suicide Related Materials Offences Act, which makes it a
crime in Australia to use the telephone, email, fax and Internet
to discuss the practicalities of end of life issues.
As a consequence, Exit International has moved its headquarters
to New Zealand.
12 October,
2005
German Assisted Suicide Debate Heats Up
Deutsche Welle reports:
Germany's debate about assisted suicide has flared
up after a state minister said he would back legalisation. Church
officials meanwhile called for a ban of a Swiss group that wants
to help terminally ill Germans to die.
Roger Kusch, who serves as justice minister in
the city state of Hamburg, is the first leading CDU politician
who has come out in support of assisted suicide for severely
ill people after a Swiss group called Dignitas recently announced
it plans to open a German office in Hanover to make it assisted
suicide more accessible for Germans seeking an end to their
suffering.
"Responsible, compassionate assisted suicide
does not clash with human basic rights as far as I'm concerned,"
Kush wrote in a guest commentary for Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper.
"Instead, it's an expression of Christian charity."
The minister backs a change to Germany's law that
punishes assisted suicide. Kusch said that he could see assisted
suicide to be legal, a doctor would have to determine that a
person has a terminal illness and thoroughly advise the patient.
A statement from the patient certified by a notary would also
be required.
Political opposition Kusch's statements have caused
uproar, with a spokesman for Hamburg's state government hurrying
to clarify that the politician had spoken as a private individual.
Germany's hospice foundation sharply criticized
Kusch for his "deeply appalling" remarks. Eugen Brysch,
the foundation's executive director, said terminally ill and
dying people don't need compassion nor mercy, but attention
and highly professional care instead.
The youth wing of Hamburg's Christian Democratic
Union also opposed Kusch's proposal, saying that killing a person
could not be the answer to suffering and illness.
Social Democrats also criticized Kusch's comparison
of assisted suicide and abortion. Kusch had written that he
didn't understand why assisted suicide was punishable with at
least six months in prison while abortion was not.
Promoting a ban the bishop of Hanover's Lutheran
church, Margot Kässmann, meanwhile called for a ban on
Dignitas. "If it's legally possible, this should happen,"
she said, adding that the group was opening the door for assisted
suicide. Kässmann said that Germans had to rethink their
approach toward severely sick people, most of whom die anonymously
in hospitals.
Kässmann's colleague from the southwestern
state of Baden-Württemberg, Frank July, also came out in
opposition of assisted suicide.
Lower Saxony's Justice Minister Elisabeth Heister-Neumann
(CDU) has announced that she plans to introduce legislation
in Germany's upper house that would penalize agencies that help
with assisted suicide such as Dignitas. German President Horst
Köhler has also come out in opposition of assisted suicide.
