Timo Mennle writes from Zurich:
"the German parliament ("Bundestag")
passed a new law concerning assisted suicide. The law generally forbids aiding others
in their own suicide. However, it has two important points: first, it
imposes a penalty of up to 3 years imprisonment if assistance for
suicide is provided in a "business-like" fashion. This
explicitly rules out the provision of such services for profit but also the
professional provision by organization. Second, relatives and persons
with a close relationships are exempt from punishment if they assist
in a suicide out
of “altruistic motives.” The same is true for medical
doctors in case of
decisions on a by-case basis. The new law closes a legal
gap that previously left medial doctors and relatives in an
ambiguous situation.
The express purpose of the new law is to "prevent a
habituation of society to assisted suicide and to prevent the pressuring
of old or sick persons into killing themselves." The vote in
parliament was taken anonymously; the usual obligation of the members of
parliament to vote according to their respective party's recommendation was
explicitly suspended and they were asked to follow only their own
conscience in this decision.
This and more information can be found in the following
news articles
(unfortunately in German):
An English article about the topic can be found here:
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