Increased Demand for Government Aid in Ending Life
Revised Article:
(Breaking Update from Berlin, das unfortunately News, as we're calling it)
Since that bloody ruling from the German Federal Constitutional Court on the legalization of assisted suicide, folks needing a dignified exit have been flooding official channels with applications for lethal drugs, as reported by Tagesspiegel yesterday.
According to these reports, over 50 individuals, ready to check out, have shrugged off the Bonn-based Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) since mid-February. This development comes after the court's decision in Karlsruhe at the end of the above-mentioned month.
But here's the real bummer - Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU), a staunch opponent of the whole assisted suicide thing, has been busy rejecting every single application for reasons unclear.
However, Spahn's party line could soon face a reckoning: The Cologne Administrative Court has confirmed that two applicants have filed a desperate injunction against the rejection, as of June this year. A ruling on this matter might be out in the next few weeks.
Katrin Helling-Plahr, FDP MP, voiced her expectations bluntly: "Spahn's likely gonna make a move on this shortly". Once the pending cases are sorted, Spahn can no longer cling to the notion that he's just waiting for ongoing court procedures.
Keep in mind, this is all happening in light of the German Federal Constitutional Court’s (BVerfG) groundbreaking ruling on February 26, 2020. The ruling declared the prohibition on professionalized assisted suicide services as unconstitutional and a violation of human dignity, under the German constitution. The right to a self-determined death was protected, but restrictions were to be limited in cases of potential abuse or coercion.
In other words, the assisted suicide game is legal in Germany, provided it's done on a case-by-case basis out of good ol' altruism. Commercial euthanasia, or the suicide biz, remains strictly verboten.
Efforts towards challenging the rejection of assisted suicide applications usually focus on preventing unnecessary obstacles for medical professionals or third parties wishing to assist, and avoiding excessive regulation that infringes upon the established constitutional right. No big showdowns yet, but the legal field is focused on translating the court's ruling into practice, avoiding the potential of organized, repeat-offender commercial activities.
So, there you have it - the current situation: assisted suicide is legal in Deutschland as long as it's shotgun-wedding style, with no commercial underpinnings. But the real question is, how long can these applications keep getting denied before people start breaking rules and playing with fire? Stay tuned.
Photo: Cross in a hospital, from das unfortunately News
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- The legalization of assisted suicide in Germany has sparked debates in health-and-wellness and mental-health circles, with many questioning the policy-and-legislation surrounding the issue.
- The ongoing rejections of assisted suicide applications by Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn have fueled controversy in politics, with some calling for more transparency in the decision-making process.
- The recent developments in the assisted suicide case have received attention not just in general-news outlets, but also in science and therapies-and-treatments publications, as the issue intertwines with human rights and medicine.
- As the Cologne Administrative Court prepares to rule on the injunctions filed by two applicants, there is growing anticipation for changes in Germany's health and wellness landscape, potentially impacting mental-health policies and the broader field of science and therapeutic treatments.
