Jörg-Dietrich Hoppe, the President of the German Doctor’s Organisation (Bundesärztekammer, BAK) announced in an interview with the Rheinische Post last month a surprising shift of opinion.
Was the BAK from the onset of all debates on assistance with suicide by doctors (mind you assistance in suicide in general is not illegal at all in Germany!) obstinate in their opinion that doctors “did not do such things, since it was unärztlich (not doctor-like)”.
In the interview he said he could imagine a doctor to be willing to comply with a request for such assistance, on the condition that he could come to terms with his conscience.
Apparently, stunned by his own primary reaction, he emphasized that this kind of help never would be part of a doctor’s professional duty. He was not eager to see a development in which “terminally ill people would feel pressurized into asking for a voluntary death”.
Comment RJ: although very little, a gap it is!!