Contrary to what was expected in Germany (see newsitem dd February 2, 2011 on this site) the German Doctors Organisation BAK, has decided that doctors no longer are allowed to assist in a suicide of their patients.
At their annual meeting (Bunders Ärzte Tag) in Kiel, the delegates voted in a large majority (166 against 56, with 7 abstentions) in favor of this proposal by the board of the BAK. Where the wording in the earlier professional code formulated this as “… doctors should not actively shorten the life of dying persons” (Ärzte dürfen das Leben des Sterbenden “nicht aktiv verkürzen”), the proposal and now thus the decision has become : “.. doctors are not allowed to assist in a suicide” (Ärzte dürfen keine Hilfe zur Selbsttötung leisten).