CSU politician Dorothee Bär: Abolition of paragraph 219a “cannot be a triumph for me”

Created: 06/07/2022 05:28

By: Leonie Zimmerman

Dorothee Bär, deputy leader of the Union parliamentary group, explains her criticism of the abolition of paragraph 219a and why protecting unborn life is so important to her.

© Political Moments/IMAGO

The abolition of Paragraph 219a – the advertising ban for abortions – has been discussed for a long time.

The corresponding law has now been passed.

Dorothee Bär (CSU) sees this critically.

Berlin – For many women, the abolition of paragraph 219a is an important step towards more self-determination and equality.

The traffic light government under Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has kept one of its key coalition promises in the area of ​​women's rights with the legislative resolution to abolish the advertising ban for abortions.

In the opposition, however, there was little applause.

On the contrary: Many Union politicians criticize the abolition of the advertising ban for abortions.

One of them is Dorothee Bär (CSU).

In an interview with Merkur.de

, the deputy leader of the Union parliamentary group reveals what she bases the criticism on, what unwanted pregnant women need instead and why protecting unborn life is so important to her.

Dorothee Bär (CSU) in an interview about the abolition of paragraph 219a and women in politics

Ms Bär, politics with a heart is written on your website.

Why does your heart actually beat for the CSU?

I joined the Junge Union at the age of 14.

It really wasn't that easy because my father was in the CSU himself and always wanted his children to go their own way.

So he wasn't in favor of me joining the CSU.

He wanted his children to think for themselves and make up their own minds.

But it was so important to me that I almost secretly joined the party.

For me, only the CSU came into question because it is the only party that represents my view of elementary things such as the protection of unborn life.

A topic that today, 30 years later, is again very topical.

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Dorothee Bär (CSU) on Paragraph 219a: Need more contact points for unwanted pregnant women

You allude to the decision to abolish paragraph 219a.

Unlike many other politicians, you are anything but enthusiastic about the decision - why?

Don't get me wrong, I stand by the right to abortion - but I am also in favor of maintaining a balance between women's right to self-determination and the protection of unborn life.

An abortion is not a medical service like any other.

However, the governing parties are currently tending to shift the balance to the detriment of unborn life.

That cannot be a triumph for me, as Mrs Paus put it.

Anyone who, like me, advocates including the unborn life in the considerations is often described as regressive.

I think that in our society, commitment to children should never be considered unfashionable or even backwards.

The abolition of paragraph 219a only ensures that doctors are allowed to provide information about abortions.

What exactly is wrong with that?

It is clear that we will reach out to women in the exceptional situation.

However, the federal government has announced that paragraph 218 will now be questioned next.

I get a lot of messages from young women who tell me that they have decided to have the child after the counseling and the reflection period prescribed by the paragraph.

So more contact points are actually needed for the women who are simply overwhelmed by the situation.

It's just a very different debate than the abortion debate in the US.

It is wrong that they are often mentioned in the same breath.

For us there is no question that the possibility of abortion remains.

Rather, it is about women being open to

to decide for the child - or to abort it.

In both cases there should be certainty that there is support from society. 

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You initially said that the protection of unborn life was one of the reasons you joined the CSU in the first place.

Why is this topic so important to you?

At school we were discussing a poem in which an unborn child spoke to its mother.

That touched me very much.

That changed my perspective on it.

There are sometimes moments in life that have a big impact.

Dorothee Bär (CSU) on feminist politics and the image of women in her party

However, her party is not known for fighting for women's rights and has a comparatively small proportion of women.

What does feminist politics in the CSU look like?

I find your choice of words interesting.

It is repeatedly suggested that feminists should not be in a party like the CSU.

That totally annoys me.

Because that gives a picture of how a feminist should be.

As if I have to belong to a certain party to stand up for women's rights.

Awareness within our party for women's rights has grown significantly in recent years.

Of course we still have to work on making it possible for more women to get involved in politics - but that applies to all parties.

However, this becomes more difficult every year.

Other politicians are currently saying that it is becoming easier for women to get involved in politics.

Why do you assume the opposite?

Of course, we have to create the conditions for this.

But what I mean is something else.

For me, the main reason is that hate and hate speech is on the rise on the internet.

Women in politics and in general in public have to deal with a lot of personal attacks.

Any woman who has an opinion of her own and voices it publicly will at some point receive hate mail that goes well below the belt.

My male colleagues also get vile messages.

With us women, however, there is almost always a sexualized context.

And it's no longer an anonymous crowd attacking you - it's often users who act with their real names.

And a lot of women just don't want to expose themselves to such attacks - which I can completely understand.

Come in addition,

that young women in particular are weighing up whether they want to put their child to bed or attend an evening session.

The decision is often clear.

The problem is obvious - but what can the solution look like?

Regarding hate: We have already made some changes to the law to that effect in the past legislative period.

For example, it is now forbidden to photograph women under their skirts or in their blouses.

The fact that such new criminal offenses were necessary at all speaks for itself.

Apart from that, it is extremely important for women to realize that they are not alone.

We should encourage more women to speak up and speak up for their causes.

It starts with internal meetings.

Every time a woman takes the floor, it gets louder.

Then it is important to band together and ensure that the woman is also listened to.

And I would like us as a Union to address issues that specifically or increasingly affect women even more naturally.

I started with the topic of loneliness in my function as deputy parliamentary group leader.

The topic of women's health continues.

That creates awareness.

And what has to change in your parliamentary group and party for the term People's Party to gain in importance again?

People's parties bring together a wide variety of currents and opinions in a society.

They bundle and discuss issues within their own party in order to then represent them externally.

That mediates and unites.

They hold societies together.

In order to live up to this claim, we have to develop further.

For example, we need new forms of participation that make it easier for women and mothers to get involved politically.

We should also deal with some social issues more quickly and openly.

As Minister of State, I noticed how closed some colleagues were to new topics such as gaming or e-sports.

These are topics that are of particular interest to the younger generation.

A current example is the debate about compulsory social service.

Instead of breaking the decision over our knees, we should put it on a broad basis and speak again in particular with the young people who would be directly affected.

So it should be more about talking to people – instead of just about them.

IPPEN.MEDIA

also spoke to Bär about the energy crisis in Germany.

She sharply criticized the actions of Robert Habeck and Olaf Scholz.

Read more about this here.

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