Health · Healthcare & Policy · 1 hr ago
Germany to present first guidance on assisted suicide requests
A new guideline on how to respond to assisted-suicide requests is being presented in Germany on Thursday.
It is intended for people working in health and social care, who may be asked for help by people in severe distress.
Developed over several years by experts from medicine, nursing and family organisations, it contains 45 recommendations.
The guidance aims to help workers understand a person's wish to die, explain other options and assess whether a decision is made freely.
Assisted suicide is not a crime in Germany when the decision is made freely, but active euthanasia is illegal; a 2020 court ruling overturned a ban on providing assisted suicide on a repeated basis.
Reported cases have risen since 2020, with organisations reporting more than 1,200 assisted suicides in 2025, while proposed laws setting rules for assisted suicide failed to win parliamentary support in 2023.
The guideline is meant to provide professional guidance where clear standards are lacking.
Medical and social-care workers in Germany are due to receive the country’s first interdisciplinary guidance on requests for assistance with suicide.
The guidance is intended to help staff discuss death wishes, provide information about alternatives and assess whether a decision is freely made.
It was developed by representatives from medicine, nursing and family organisations and contains 45 recommendations.
Suicide-assistance organisations reported more than 1,200 assisted-suicide cases in Germany in 2025, while the actual number may be higher.
Assisting suicide is not a crime in Germany when the decision is freely made, but active euthanasia is illegal.
- Who
- Medical and social-care workers in Germany are the intended users of the guidance.
- What
- A medical-ethical guideline on handling requests for assistance with suicide is due to be presented.
- When
- Thursday, 22 October 2026.
- Where
- Germany; the presentation is organised by the University of Halle (Saale).
- Why
- The guidance aims to help staff respond to death wishes, explain alternatives and assess whether a suicide decision is freely made.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court overturned a ban on assisted suicide services organised on a repeated basis.
Draft legislation setting conditions for assisted suicide was discussed in the Bundestag but did not win a majority.
Suicide-assistance organisations reported more than 1,200 assisted-suicide cases in Germany.
The first interdisciplinary guideline on requests for assistance with suicide is due to be presented.
- Guideline
- 45 recommendations
- Organiser
- University of Halle (Saale)
- Reported assisted-suicide cases
- More than 1,200 in 2025
- Suicides in Germany
- 11,334 in 2025
- Share of all deaths
- 1.1% from suicide in 2025
What people are saying
understand wishes to die appropriately, enable informed information and counselling, and assess professionally the conditions for a freely responsible suicide decision
concrete standards for handling requests for assistance with suicide from a medical, ethical and legal perspective