[Assisted dying from an international perspective and the debate in Germany]

The article provides an overview of the legal, political, and social framework conditions and developments relating to euthanasia in selected countries. It has been demonstrated that the practice of euthanasia was initially subject to certain narrowly defined conditions (e.g., incurable or terminal illnesses) in many countries and was expanded within a relatively short period of time, both in terms of legal access requirements and practical application. In countries such as the Netherlands and Canada, active euthanasia was also permitted from the outset and accounts for the vast majority of documented cases there.In contrast to the international developments described above, Germany is still in the process of legal and social reorientation following the 2020 ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court. Despite the ruling's establishment of the fundamental admissibility of assisted suicide, a paucity of procedural and institutional regulations exists to facilitate uniform practice.At this time, a comparison of developments in Germany with those in other countries is not possible, due to the absence of separate statistics on assisted suicide cases. The Federal Statistical Office continues to record and report both "regular" and assisted suicides in the same category of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). The figures published by euthanasia organizations have not been officially verified, but they do indicate a significant increase in documented cases since 2020.