Press Releases

Over 500 participants attended the annual conference of the German Ethics Council on 21 June in Berlin on "Autonomous systems. How intelligent machines are changing us".

The German Ethics Council recommends that the due respect for individual decisions about the end of one's own life not be supplemented by a state obligation for suicide support. The Ethics Council thereby opposes the judgment of the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court) from 2 March 2017.

On Thursday, 18 May 2017, the German Ethics Council is conducting a public expert hearing on the topic of coercion in child and youth services in Berlin. A further hearing on the topic of coercion in nursing and services for the disabled is taking place one day later on 19 May 2017. Those who are interested can follow both hearings through the live audio stream and comment online.

At a public evening event yesterday, the German Ethics Council discussed questions concerning egg donation abroad and the consequences of this practice in Germany.

On Thursday, 23 February 2017, the German Ethics Council is conducting a public hearing of experts in Berlin on the topic of coercion in psychiatry. Interested parties can also follow the hearing through live audio streaming and comment online.

Antibiotic resistance leads to an estimated 25,000 fatalities per year in Europe and is currently increasing rapidly worldwide. Experts warn that even simple microbial infections could once again become acute threats for individuals and the population at large. The German Ethics Council discussed the ethical and societal challenges arising from this for patients and doctors on 23 November 2016 in Berlin during a public event in the "Forum Bioethics" series.