bFederal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann advocates a new attempt at legal regulation of euthanasia during this election period. “I think it would be good if there was a result in this legislative period,” said the FDP politician to the Editorial Network Germany (RND). “But what is more important is that the solution is a good one, because what is at stake here is one of the highest legal interests, namely human life.”
In mid-2023, two drafts for a legal framework with conditions and requirements for euthanasia did not receive a majority in the Bundestag. The background to the initiatives from the Bundestag was a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, which overturned a ban on commercial euthanasia in the 2020 Criminal Code because it violated the right to self-determined death. Business-wise has nothing to do with money, but is intended to be repeated. In October 2023, a cross-party group in the Bundestag took up the issue of euthanasia again.
Buschmann now said that there needs to be a sufficiently clear legal regulation that provides legal certainty for everyone involved. However, it is a good tradition “for the federal government to hold back on such complex medical ethical questions and let parliament take the lead.” “As a member of parliament, I think that the Federal Constitutional Court rightly emphasized that a person must have the right to decide for themselves how to end their life.”
At the same time, it must be prevented that people make decisions hastily and that pressure can be exerted on them. “Older people, those who are sick or those in need of other care should not think about euthanasia because they feel like it is an imposition on their fellow human beings or because they are given this impression.”