Kristina Hänel
Photo: Boris Roessler / DPAThe Giessen doctor Kristina Hänel wants to take legal action against the operator of a website in Hamburg on Friday. The 64-year-old justified the injunction that he compared abortion with the crimes of the Holocaust and attacked her with personal abuse.
The operator does not only defame medical professionals, but also any unwanted pregnant women. "She is told that what she is doing is worse than the crimes of the National Socialists," said a statement from the plaintiff. (AZ: 324 O 290/19)
The doctor had started a nationwide debate about the abortion paragraph 219a at the time. The paragraph was changed in March 2019. In December 2019, Hänel was sentenced in an appeal process to a fine of 2500 euros for violating paragraph 219a of abortion. The regional court in Giessen saw it as proven that the doctor had made herself liable to prosecution with the information she had made available on her website about abortions.
Hänel appealed on a point of law and continues to pursue its goal of taking it to the Federal Constitutional Court. But her judgment must first become final, she emphasizes.
Paragraph 219a prohibits, among other things, the public "offering" or "promoting" abortions "because of their financial advantage" or in a "grossly offensive manner". According to the court, the present case was about factual information, including the risks and possible complications of abortion. But that goes beyond the permitted framework.
In the reform, paragraph 219a received a new paragraph, according to which doctors can publicly inform that they are performing abortions. For further information, however, you must refer to other locations. That was absurd and did not create legal security for doctors, said Hänel, who had been reported by abortion opponents.
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