Abstract

The author, former Minister of Justice in Germany, focuses on problems arising in the codification of ethical decisions concerning assistance in suicide, as it occurs in the Netherlands. He appreciates the precautions taken in Netherlands 's law to prevent abuse of the legalization of certain kinds of euthanasia. He states that the declared intention of a dying person to end his or her own life is to be respected. Campassion and sympathy which finally lead to aiding the moribund person in suicide might be understandable although strictly forbidden. This ends up in a conflict which can not be subject to legal statutes but has tobe a matter of a very serious decision of conscience. Thus, aid in suicide can not be allowed by law in general. The author claims that the focus on everyone's own responsible decision is a genuine position of protestant ethics.