In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, Health Minister Jens Spahn has asked a group of experts for proposals on new regulations for suicide assistance, which consists mainly of those who previously supported the unconstitutional § 217 of the German Criminal Code. In their statement published today, the Giordano Bruno Foundation (gbs) and the Hans Albert Institute (HAI), which only learned of the letter a few days ago, explain what an alternative regulation that complies with the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court could look like.

"The German Ethics Council should argue on a rational, evidence-based and ideologically neutral basis, but all too often this is prevented by the over-representation of church lobbyists," criticizes Michael Schmidt-Salomon, philosopher and spokesman of the Giordano Bruno Foundation. The new appointment of the committee on April 30th did by no means solve this problem, but rather exacerbated it.

The topic of the lecture by gbs advisory board and HAI board member Franz Josef Wetz in the "Humanistic Salon" of the Duesseldorfer Aufklärungsdienst was chosen long before "Corona" became the predominant topic in the media. The images of the pandemic's consequences, however, prompted many people to take a closer look at their own finiteness. Wetz' lecture on a "new farewell culture" will be streamed live on May 5th on the gbs YouTube channel, viewers can join the discussion.

The Giordano Bruno Foundation had already cancelled all events until May 2020 two weeks ago, i.e. before the corresponding administrative instructions had been given. While the foundation is working intensively on the pandemic internally, it is refraining from making any further statements due to the currently still very unclear data availability. "What is needed now is serious transdisciplinary research of the virus, its spread and its consequences," says gbs board spokesman Michael Schmidt-Salomon, "no further fueling of the rumour mill".