Kristina Hänel: “I just don't want to be murdered”

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Kristina Hänel before the Hamburg regional court: "They call me the angel of death, they call me a murderer"

Kristina Hänel's opponent remains invisible on this day. In the courtroom, the doctor and her lawyer wait for the man who calls her to be the murderer to show up. Who compares them to the National Socialists in Auschwitz. The one on the Internet claims that there is "blood on her hands" - because she terminates unwanted pregnancies in her practice. Hänel's opponent was supposed to join the negotiation via video. But nothing happens. The screen stays black.

Hänel is here to defend himself against the allegations that Klaus Günter Annen is making about her on his website. She has sued the 69-year-old, who fights doggedly against the doctor who became a public figure in the debate over abortions three years ago.  

In 2017, a broader public took notice of Hänel for the first time. The general practitioner, who also performs abortions, was sentenced to a fine of 6,000 euros. The prosecutor justified the charges that she had illegally advertised on her website to offer abortions.

Up until then, the 64-year-old family doctor had her own practice in Gießen, and she also offered therapeutic riding for disabled children. Now she suddenly rose to the figurehead of equality - for some. And at the same time it became the enemy of anti-abortionists.

"Worse than the crimes of the National Socialists"

What Hänel has experienced since then also has to do with Klaus Günter Annen. In the Hamburg district court, she wants to talk about what Annen is doing to her with the words and images he spreads about her. The room is filled to the last seat, there are about as many journalists as there are supporters of Hänels.

With his statements, Annen is not only defaming medical professionals like her, but also every unwanted pregnant woman. "She gets the message that what she is doing is worse than the crimes of the National Socialists," said Hänel, justifying her complaint in advance.

It becomes more personal in the courtroom. Hänel talks about her five grandchildren who are currently learning to read. You don't know how to explain to them that others call you a child murderer, says Hänel. But she has to do it so that the information doesn't surprise her at some point.

Hänel took the murder of Lübcke personally

Hänel also talks about the fear with which she has lived since the personal attacks by anti-abortionists. The murder of the CDU politician Walter Lübcke was also decisive. You immediately took it personally, says Hänel.

She thinks it is unlikely that someone like Annen will physically attack her. "But at some point someone will come who doesn't get it all right, and then my chance of dying a non-natural death is extremely increased," says Hänel. Then her voice breaks: "I just don't want to be murdered."

In 2017, the trial against Kristina Hänel sparked a public debate about Section 219a, which criminalizes advertising for abortion. A rift went through the government coalition: The SPD demanded the abolition of the paragraph, the Union stuck to it.

It was only after months of political struggle that a compromise was reached: The controversial paragraph remained in place, but received some additions. Since then, doctors have been allowed to publicly inform that they are performing abortions. For further information, however, you must refer to other locations.

At the time, Hänel found that this regulation was not a victory: the change was absurd and did not create legal security for doctors.

The new regulation did not help her legally either: Just a few months later, in December 2019, Hänel was sentenced to a fine of 2500 euros in an appeal process. 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.

A life in fear

Before the Hamburg district court, Hänel is strong and does not seem to regret anything. Looking into a journalist's camera, she says that the most important thing for her is that the public know what is happening to doctors like her. Such regulations put their lives in danger. The state must act to change that.

In a personal conversation, however, away from the cameras, Hänel looks down if you ask her how she is doing personally. In the evenings she always draws the curtains for fear of being watched, she then says. Before she leaves her house, think carefully about which route is safest.

In front of the court that day, Hänel only achieved partial success. The Holocaust comparison is probably illegal, says the judge. She wants to announce the verdict on Monday. But one thing is already clear: Klaus Günter Annen can probably continue to claim that there is blood on Kristina Hänel's hands. After all, she is a doctor. Blood is part of the job.