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Gießen doctor Kristina Hänel: "I'm stepping back into the second row"
Photo: Stephan Wallocha / imago images/epd
When it was finally announced, Kristina Hänel says on the phone, tears came to her eyes.
"I'm relieved, so incredibly relieved," says Hänel.
This Friday, the Bundestag decided to repeal the controversial paragraph 219a - and with it a phase of life comes to an end for Hänel in which she almost gave up on herself.
Hänel, a general practitioner from Gießen, became known throughout Germany when she was convicted in 2017 for violating paragraph 219a of the Criminal Code.
The text of the law has so far stipulated that abortions may not be »advertised«.
Hänel had informed on her website that and how she was carrying out abortions.
In the fight against the law, she went through the instances.
She let supporters of the paragraph insult her, and threatening letters kept ending up in her practice’s mailbox.
Hänel didn't give up.
She was one of the few doctors who occasionally provided information about abortions and accepted the risk of prosecution.
That won't happen again: The government draft that has been passed grants physicians a right to information.
"I don't even know exactly what I'm supposed to be feeling," says Hänel on the phone that morning.
She traveled to Berlin especially, she says, together with a nurse from her practice.
They watched the debate in the Bundestag from the stands.
They saw live how Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) described the previous regulation as "absurd and outdated".
They heard Federal Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus (Greens) shouting: "Today is a great day.
Women’s health and self-determination – these are human rights.«
They saw and heard how the left welcomed the abolition of the paragraph - and emphasized that the step did not go far enough.
The party is also calling for the repeal of Section 218 of the Criminal Code, which would mean making abortion per se unpunishable.
Hänel and her colleague also remained seated during the speeches by Union and AfD.
They listened to the factions revolt.
As MPs said, women can already find out more about abortions and that the rights of unborn life should not be neglected.
In the end, a large majority in plenary voted in favor of deletion.
"Everything suddenly happened so quickly," says Hänel.
»But one thing is certain: this fight is over.«
In addition to the deletion of Section 219a, the Bundestag resolution provides for judgments against doctors that have been made since October 3, 1990 on the basis of the paragraph to be annulled.
Of course, this also applies to Hänel.
She hopes, she says, that the doctors will actually make use of the new right - and put their information online.
Before she hangs up, she announces that the public will hear less from her in the future.
"We made it.
I now step back into the second row.
I no longer want to be a figurehead at the front.« Rather, she wants to invest more time in the training of doctors.
So that she can do even more of what Kristina Hänel can do.
With material from dpa
