Abortions: FDP urges ban on sidewalk harassment

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Demonstration for the deletion of paragraph 218 (photo from 2021)

Photo: Aaron Karasek / aal.photo / IMAGO

Hardly any socio-political issue is as controversial as abortion.

The traffic light coalition has now set up a commission of experts to deal with the question of decriminalization.

The committee is scheduled to start work at the end of March.

Now there are demands in the coalition that the traffic light parties should become active on the subject beforehand.

"Before the commission's recommendations are available, I think there are many problems that need to be addressed as quickly as possible: sidewalk harassment of women in front of counseling centers for abortion must finally be made a punishable offense via the Pregnancy Conflict Act," said Nicole Bauer, spokeswoman for women's affairs for the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag, the SPIEGEL.

In addition, the medical care situation for women who decide to have an abortion under the current regulations must be improved.

It cannot be that militant abortion opponents insulted and harassed women in front of counseling centers.

Bauer says that in her native Bavaria, there are only a handful of doctors who perform abortions.

more on the subject

• First guideline on abortions: »Unfortunately not all doctors give neutral advice« by Katherine Rydlink

• Dispute over Paragraph 218: Will abortions soon no longer be punishable? By Milena Hassenkamp

Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) is planning a law that will prohibit so-called lifeguards from demonstrating in front of practices and advice centers and thus prevent women from making their decisions.

At the beginning of the year, she also spoke out in favor of removing abortion from the penal code.

A better supply situation would fall within the remit of Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD).

»Tabooing« and »Stigmatizing«

According to Section 218 of the Criminal Code, abortions are prohibited in Germany.

However, if they occur within the specified time limit and upon presentation of a counseling certificate, they are exempt from punishment.

The attitude towards the outcome of the commission's work is clear in the SPD and Greens parliamentary groups.

"From our point of view, the regulation of abortions should not be regulated in the penal code," says the deputy legal policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, Carmen Wegge.

Paragraph 218 also burdens and stigmatizes affected women and doctors.

The women's policy spokeswoman for the Greens in the Bundestag, Ulle Schauws, takes a similar view.

»The current criminalization of abortions through their regulation in the penal code leads to a taboo and stigmatization of self-determined abortions and to an inadequate medical care situation.

That is why alternative rules outside the penal code are so essential.«

The Union, on the other hand, fears a change in the status quo.

"The Commission is starting with a heavy burden," says the legal policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Günter Krings.

"Minister Paus' prior decision to delete Section 218 of the Criminal Code is a burden for the members of the Commission." The CSU had already announced that it would go before the Constitutional Court if Section 218 were to be deleted.

The traffic light government had already set itself the task of setting up a commission to deal with the deletion of 218 in its coalition agreement.

However, the naming of the individual members was delayed.

Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) reported concerns about the deletion of the paragraph.

He is unsure whether this would stand up before the Federal Constitutional Court.

The 18 members of the committee have now been determined.

Among them are the chairwoman of the German Women Lawyers Association, Maria Wersig, the medical ethicist Christiane Woopen and the constitutional lawyer Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf.

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