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Demonstration against paragraph 219a (archive photo)
Photo: Silas Stein/ dpa
If doctors publish factual information about abortions, they must expect criminal proceedings in Germany: Section 219a of the Criminal Code makes "advertising for the termination of pregnancy" a punishable offense.
The federal government is now working to change this – and thus fulfill a promise made in the coalition agreement.
According to a draft bill from the Ministry of Justice, which is available to SPIEGEL, the SPD, Greens and FDP want to delete the paragraph as planned without replacement.
"Doctors must be able to support women in this difficult situation without fear of prosecution," the paper says.
This is exactly what is not guaranteed in the current legal situation, despite a reform in 2019.
The draft refers to the case of the doctor Kristina Hänel, who was convicted on the basis of paragraph 219a and has filed a constitutional complaint - which has not yet been decided.
So far, even the information that doctors perform abortions has been considered illegal advertising for abortions - or the information on a doctor's website that she will carry out the abortion with medication and without anesthesia.
The coalition agreement states: "The possibility of free abortions is part of reliable health care."
And: »Doctors should be able to provide public information about abortions without having to fear criminal prosecution.
We are therefore deleting Section 219a of the Criminal Code.«
According to the draft bill, the coalition partners see no option in changing the existing rule again.
This is out of the question, the paragraph “impairs the woman’s right to sexual self-determination, continues to lead to legal uncertainty for doctors and, on the other hand, is not required to protect unborn life”.
»The decisive factor in the decision to terminate a pregnancy is not the amount of information available, but the conflict in which the pregnant woman finds herself.«
From the draft bill for the abolition of paragraph 219a
In particular, doctors who perform abortions themselves are of particular importance as sources of information for women. "By banning doctors from making factual information about the spectrum of their offers and services publicly available, it is also made more difficult for the women concerned to choose the doctor for a consultation or for the abortion, which often takes place under great time pressure," says in the draft. In addition, there is no apparent reason “to refuse to provide information to doctors of all people, who are most likely to be able to contribute to clarification on abortion”.
The Ministry of Justice sees no indication that the number of abortions in Germany will increase once the advertising ban is lifted.
“The decisive factor in the decision to terminate a pregnancy is not the amount of available information, but the conflict in which the pregnant woman finds herself.” The number of abortions in Germany has been falling for years, from almost 131,000 in 1996 to almost 100,000 abortions in 2020.
There is also no reason to fear that an end to the ban would lead to grossly offensive or sensational advertising for abortions.
Ulz/so-called