Radical abortion opponents repeatedly protest near counseling centers. In the future, women should be better protected from this. The cabinet has approved a law against so-called sidewalk harassment.
Anyone who wants to have an abortion in Germany must seek advice beforehand. There are advice centers for this, for example from Pro Familia or the Evangelical Church. But these places are literally under siege by opponents of abortion in some German cities.
At least that’s how those who go there and those who work there feel. Because the demonstrators shout loudly, hold up large crosses and photos of embryos. In this context, “sidewalk nuisance” is often spoken of.
So far there have been court rulings that found that the women affected had to endure this because – according to the courts’ argument – the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression should be valued more highly than the right of women to get to the counseling center without being harassed. To put it simply, women would just have to endure it.
Paus: “We are strengthening the rights of pregnant women”
The cabinet has now made a decision to protect pregnant women from this harassment. A draft law by Family Minister Lisa Paus was passed. The Green politician hopes that the law will pass the Bundestag this summer. According to this, these demos should be banned within a certain radius in the future.
Pregnant women would then no longer be allowed to be spoken to against their will within hearing or sight. If this happens, it would be an administrative offense and could be punished with a maximum of 5,000 euros.
“We are strengthening the rights of pregnant women and taking an important step towards women’s self-determination,” says Paus. “Freedom of expression has its limits here, also in the sense of protecting the future life, which is guaranteed by open-ended pregnancy conflict counseling.”
“Disturbing and unpleasant presence”
Pro Familia has been campaigning for the establishment of protection zones in front of advice centers for years. “The protected and unmolested counseling framework is central for people who seek psychosocial counseling,” explains federal chairwoman Monika Börding.
A counselor describes the effect of the demonstrations as follows: “Unintentionally pregnant women and other people seeking help on the way to counseling perceive the presence as disturbing and unpleasant. They cannot escape the influence and confrontation with abortion opponents.”
However, there is currently no nationwide law. Some anti-abortion groups demonstrate daily in front of the counseling centers for weeks, which makes a neutral atmosphere hardly possible. But women are legally entitled to a neutral counseling situation.
supply situation has worsened
But the protests are not only directed against pregnant women and their partners. Practices that offer abortions are also often under siege. Many doctors do not want to expose themselves and their employees to the wrath right outside the front door of their practice.
Minister Paus also sees the problem: “Of course it’s not something that a person wants to have to go through a gauntlet for themselves and their employees.”
This is also one of the reasons why fewer and fewer doctors have been performing abortions in recent years. Over the past 30 years, the supply of such practices in Germany has deteriorated. In some regions it is so drastic that the women affected have to travel long distances – sometimes to other federal states – in order to get an appropriate practice.
In order to obtain information in advance, the German Medical Association has had a list of practices that carry out abortions in Germany for several years. Of the approximately 19,000 practicing gynecologists, 380 are currently on this list.
Michael Weidemann, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, January 24, 2024 4:23 p.m