[Suicide and assisted suicide from a legal and ethical perspective]. 2022

Tanja Henking
Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften Würzburg-Schweinfurt, Münzstr. 12, 97070, Würzburg, Deutschland. tanja.henking@fhws.de.

In 2020, the Federal Constitutional Court declared the ban on assisted suicide unconstitutional and invalid. The court derived a right to self-determined dying from the general right of personality. This right also includes the freedom to take one's own life and to seek help from third parties for this purpose and to make use of help if it is offered. In the meantime, there are several proposals for regulations and draft laws that pursue different concepts of a possible future regulation of assisted suicide. However, from the perspective of criminal law, the search for a new regulation should always be preceded by the question of the necessity of a new regulation. A new regulation must not be limited to certain groups of persons, such as persons with incurable, terminal illnesses, because otherwise the suicide motive would be assessed. This brings with it the particular challenge of finding a regulation that covers the different problem and need situations without assessing the suicide motive and also takes into account that the autonomy of the individual can be endangered in different ways.The article takes its starting point in the right to suicide, sheds light on different concepts, and discusses their advantages and disadvantages without explicitly highlighting individual legislative proposals. This is intended to enrich the further debate with individual aspects. At the same time, it advocates legislative restraint.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D005065 Euthanasia The act or practice of killing or allowing death from natural causes, for reasons of mercy, i.e., in order to release a person from incurable disease, intolerable suffering, or undignified death. (from Beauchamp and Walters, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, 5th ed) Mercy Killing,Killing, Mercy,Killings, Mercy,Mercy Killings
D005610 Freedom The rights of individuals to act and make decisions without external constraints. Liberty,Libertarianism,Freedoms
D005858 Germany A country in central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark. The capital is Berlin.
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012297 Right to Die The right of the patient or the patient's representative to make decisions with regard to the patient's dying. Death with Dignity,Dignity, Death with
D017236 Suicide, Assisted Provision (by a physician or other health professional, or by a family member or friend) of support and/or means that gives a patient the power to terminate his or her own life. (from APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed). Assisted Suicide,Death, Assisted,Medically Assisted Suicide,Physician-Assisted Suicide,Medically Assisted Suicides,Suicide, Medically Assisted,Suicides, Medically Assisted,Assisted Death,Assisted Deaths,Assisted Suicides,Deaths, Assisted,Physician Assisted Suicide,Physician-Assisted Suicides,Suicide, Physician-Assisted,Suicides, Assisted,Suicides, Physician-Assisted

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