When Did Abortion Become Legal in Germany

Non classé

Every country has its Nutter. The problem with these particular nutters is that their website is the best choice if you need to find a doctor who performs abortions in Germany. It provides a complete list of practitioners with the « license to kill » by city and zip code, decorated with images of chopped babies in a petri dish, some of which have been turned into gifs to show the blood still flowing. For what? You obviously don`t want you to go to those doctors. But they want to make it easier for you to report these « murderers » to the police. The cost of abortion must be borne by the pregnant woman herself and differs between the different methods between 200 € and 650 €. However, it is possible to apply for financial assistance from health insurance companies. Nicholson: Paus is a member of the Greens, who, along with their governing coalition partner, the Social Democrats, are pushing for the decriminalization of abortion. But with a right to life enshrined in the constitution, changing the law will prove difficult, especially without the support of opposition lawmakers, many of whom believe the right to life begins at conception.

Gunter Krings is with the Christian Democrats. He does not see the need to change the law. While attending such a workshop isn`t enough to get a doctor certified to perform surgical abortions, it fills a gap in German medical education, where students say abortion is « discussed for 10 minutes, if at all, » according to advocacy group Medical Students for Choice. An old law from the 1930s, which hinders women`s access to abortion information, has survived public protests and is being exploited by anti-abortion groups. Buschmann of the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP) said it was not logical for information about abortion to be freely available on the internet, but that precisely those qualified in this regard are not allowed to provide this information. He tried to appease anti-abortion groups who argued that repealing Section 219a would encourage more abortions. Doctors, he said, would limit themselves to giving factual information. Nicholson: Catanaza says that in many medical schools in Germany, you can go the full six years without learning the basics of abortion. Curettage is an outdated method of abortion that is no longer recommended by WHO, as the risks of injury and increased bleeding are considered too high.

It is shocking that this method is still practiced in about 20% of abortions in Germany. It is therefore recommended to contact your doctor beforehand and inquire about the method. The following paragraph discusses the different abortion methods available and recommended by WHO up to the 14th week of pregnancy. In Germany, there is no uniform guideline for the application of the different methods, so availability may vary in different parts of the country. It is recommended to consult your doctor beforehand about the different methods and to inquire directly about their availability. In Germany, abortion is prohibited by Article 218 of the Criminal Code. However, it is possible to access abortion without prosecution under the following conditions: PIP: The German Bundestag has passed a compromise law on abortion that makes an abortion performed in the first three months of pregnancy illegal but punishable if the woman has already sought independent counseling. Article 218 of the German Penal Code, introduced in 1871 under Otto von Bismarck, allowed abortion for certain medical or ethical reasons. After the end of World War I, the Social Democrats tried to legalize all abortions during the first three months of pregnancy, but failed.

In 1974, abortion was declared legal and punishable on demand for the first 12 weeks under the social-liberal coalition government of Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt; In the same year, however, the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ruled that the law was incompatible with article 2 of the Basic Law, which guarantees everyone, including the unborn child, the right to life and protection against bodily harm. Germany`s highest court has also ruled that a pregnant woman must seek a second opinion from an independent doctor before having an abortion. A new, enlarged Article 218, which contained a clause with social references, was adopted by the Bundestag. When Germany was united, East Germans agreed to abide by all West German laws except Article 218. The Bundestag had 2 years to revise the article; However, in 1993, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a version that legalized abortion in the first 3 months of pregnancy, when the woman sought advice from an independent doctor, and proposed the last compromise adopted by the Bundestag. The upper house, the Federal Council, where the Social Democrats have a majority, has yet to be adopted. According to the law adopted by the Bundestag, the national health insurance covers abortion if the monthly income of the woman who wishes to have an abortion is below a certain limit. Abortion is illegal in Germany and can be punished by up to three years in prison. However, women and their doctors are not punished if the pregnancy poses a risk to the woman`s health or in cases of rape. There is also a gap in which an abortion can be performed in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy (14 weeks since the last period) after mandatory counseling.

However, there are still many obstacles. Earlier this month, the European Parliament passed a resolution to make abortion a fundamental right — a good omen for German activists fighting to make the procedure more accessible. Between 1996 and 2019, tens of thousands of abortions were registered in Germany every year. [12] In 2019 alone, 100,893 abortions were registered in Germany. [12] We did not expect the rise of the far right, which was not stupid enough to directly attack section 218. Instead, she chose the much more ambiguous Section 219a, which sat dormant for decades, but has now been agitated and has become the biggest threat to doctors performing abortions. The most important of these is the GP Kristina HÄNEL. She was fined in 2017 under § 219a for « promoting » abortion, but the public reaction drew so much attention that all political parties — except the ruling CDU/CSU and the far-right AfD — agreed it was time to get rid of this embarrassing law. At that time, parties that supported abortion reform held the majority of seats in the Bundestag. Then came the 2017 federal election.

The CDU and SPD formed a grand coalition, and one of the things the SPD had to abandon was its promise to abolish paragraph 219a. Heinel continues to fight not only against his case, but against the entire law and is ready to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Three years ago, the law was slightly amended so doctors could know if they were offering abortions, but the advertising ban remained in place. Judges continued to impose sanctions, including in a 2019 ruling against two Berlin gynaecologists, who were fined €2,000 for writing on their website that they offered the procedure in a « protected atmosphere » and that it was « without anesthesia » and « drug-induced. » BERLIN, June 24 (Reuters) – Germany on Friday scrapped a Nazi-era law that prohibits doctors from providing information on abortions. It is important to check beforehand whether the counselling institution is able to confirm the existence of mandatory counselling, as some institutions do not offer it when offering counselling interviews. In addition, the German Medical Association has an overview of the 344 doctors who perform abortions in Germany. Here you will find another overview of doctors in Germany, Austria and Switzerland who perform abortions. As the number of practices offering legal abortions has declined, fewer and fewer women have had one. 2021 saw the lowest abortion rate in Germany since 1996, the first year statistics were collected on the subject. According to the Federal Statistical Office, about 94,000 abortions were performed in 2021, down 5.4 percent from the previous year and part of a decades-long downward trend. Possible side effects of medically induced abortions include mild to moderate abdominal pain, with moderate painkillers such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen being helpful.

It is also necessary to perform an ultrasound approximately 7 to 21 days after the abortion to confirm that the abortion was successful. Although abortion is widespread throughout the European Union, observers point to developments that threaten this access. DW looks at four EU countries with different policies. To perform an abortion, the doctor must see a certificate stating that the pregnant woman had been counseled at least three days earlier at a state-licensed counseling center. There are many organizations that offer counseling where the woman is informed of her options, where she can find additional psychological and financial help if she decides to have the baby or how to adopt. Then came 1989 and the reunification of Germany, which meant that East Germans also lost their full reproductive rights. They, too, now had to be evaluated by various doctors and psychologists. But the political climate had changed; There have been fewer public protests. Yes, it was tedious to review the applications, but you knew you could end up having an abortion. Moreover, it was certainly only a matter of time before anachronistic paragraph 218 was abolished; After all, most thought it was already over and that evaluations were just a pro forma affair.

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