A 2020 decision by Germany’s highest court dramatically shifted the national discussion on assisted suicide. The decision stressed the ‘right to a self-determined death’ which must ‘be respected by state and society as an act of personal autonomy and self-determination’. Moreover, it clarified the non-criminality of assistance for suicides by third parties. The reaction of the main churches in Germany to this decision reflects ecclesiological differences. Protestant positions on assisted suicide are defined by pluralism; the Roman Catholic official position remains tied to ontologically-referenced principles of natural law that prohibit assisted suicide as intrinsically evil. Thus, ecumenical efforts on bioethics are complicated by a context where many Protestant leaders prioritize autonomy and pluralism, whereas Roman Catholic leaders stress consensus and orthodoxy. Even official church guidelines on such matters are received differently in Protestant and Roman Catholic communities. For Protestant Christians, an opinion functions primarily as guideline; for Catholic Christians, there is a goal at least of reaching principles reflecting the objective order of God’s creation.

德国最高法院 2020 年的一项决定极大地改变了全国对协助自杀的讨论。该决定强调“自决权”必须“作为个人自主和自决的行为受到国家和社会的尊重”。此外，它澄清了第三方协助自杀的非犯罪行为。德国主要教会对这一决定的反应反映了教会学的差异。新教关于协助自杀的立场是由多元主义定义的；罗马天主教的官方立场仍然与自然法的本体论参考原则联系在一起，这些原则禁止将协助自杀视为本质上的邪恶。因此，在许多新教领袖优先考虑自治和多元化的背景下，生物伦理学的普世努力变得复杂，而罗马天主教领袖则强调共识和正统。在新教和罗马天主教社区，即使是关于此类问题的官方教会指导方针也不同。对于新教基督徒来说，意见主要是作为指导；对于天主教基督徒来说，至少有一个目标是达到反映上帝创造客观秩序的原则。