Katrin Helling-Plahr | |
|---|---|
 Katrin Helling-Plahr in 2019 | |
| Member of theBundestag | |
| In office 2017–2025 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1986-04-02)2 April 1986 (age 39) |
| Political party | FDP |
| Children | 2 |
Katrin Helling-Plahr (German pronunciation:[kaˈtʁiːnˌhɛlɪŋˈplaːɐ̯,ˈkatʁiːn-]; born 2 April 1986) is a German lawyer and politician of theFree Democratic Party (FDP) who served as a member of theBundestag from the2017 to 2025.
Helling-Plahr was born inHagen. From 2005 to 2011, she studied law at theUniversity of Münster.[1] Since 2013 she has been practicing as a lawyer. From 2014 to 2015, she completed a postgraduateLL.M. program with a focus onmedical law atHeinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf.[2][3]
Helling-Plahr joined the FDP in 2005. From 2011 to 2014, she served as deputy chair of the party's youth organization, theYoung Liberals.
Helling-Plahr first became a member of the GermanBundestag in the2017 federal election, representing theHagen – Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis I district. In parliament, she served on the Committee on Legal Affairs (2018–2025) and the Committee on Health (2018–2021). From 2018 to 2021, she was also a member of the Subcommittee on Global Health and the Committee on the Election of Judges (Wahlausschuss), which is in charge of appointing judges to theFederal Constitutional Court of Germany. Since 2022, she has been serving on the parliamentary body in charge of appointing judges to the Highest Courts of Justice, namely theFederal Court of Justice (BGH), theFederal Administrative Court (BVerwG), theFederal Fiscal Court (BFH), theFederal Labour Court (BAG), and theFederal Social Court (BSG).[4]
As a health expert, Helling-Plar has been working on issues such as egg donation and surrogacy[5] and assisted suicide.[6][7] Since the2021 elections, she served as her parliamentary group's spokesperson for legal affairs.[8]
In the negotiations to form acoalition government between theSPD, theGreen Party and FDP following the 2021 elections, Helling-Plahr was part of her party's delegation in the working group on equality, co-chaired by Petra Köpping,Ricarda Lang and Herbert Mertin.[9]
Along withKarl Lauterbach,Swen Schulz,Otto Fricke andPetra Sitte, Helling-Plahr was one of the authors of a cross-party initiative in 2021 to liberalize the legal framework forassisted suicide in Germany.[11][12]
Amid theCOVID-19 pandemic in Germany, Helling-Plahr joined forces with six other parliamentarians –Dirk Wiese,Heike Baehrens,Dagmar Schmidt,Janosch Dahmen,Till Steffen andMarie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann – on a cross-party initiative in 2022 to support legislation that would have required all adults to be vaccinated.[13][14]
Helling-Plahr is married to lawyer Alexander Plahr. The couple has two children.[15]
