No, women in Germany are not in the starting blocks to finally be able to relax and enjoy an abortion. And no, the few doctors and clinics who perform abortions at all in compliance with the twelve-week period and the indication regulation are probably not feverishly calculating how much advertising they are getting on Instagram and in football stadiums for their budget. One could almost believe that in view of what Karin Prien (CDU) or Christina Trautner (CSU) say about the Federal Ministry of Justice’s plan to actually delete paragraph 219a. Prien accused the traffic light of carelessly dealing with unborn life; Trautner calls for a “respectful social debate”.
Only: The topic has been debated for many years. Above all, abortion rights themselves are not up for debate. Only the advertising ban paragraph in the abortion law should fall. This allows medical practices to provide information about abortions on their websites. Women who find out that their baby will be born severely handicapped or unable to live will – like everyone else in a medical crisis – be able to find out about their options on the Internet. And last but not least: Doctors who have unintentionally pregnant women in front of them can conduct a medical consultation without hesitation. Until now, this was not possible if the doctor carried out such an operation himself.
The paragraph also bans the medical profession from speaking up
Section 219a must be a thorn in the side of anyone who believes in freedom of information. Because he disempowers women by telling them where they can get their information about abortion from. And he shuts the medical profession up. Last but not least, he indirectly criminalizes an intervention that is not punishable in itself: theoretically, any public statement by a doctor about abortions can lead to a criminal complaint if she carries out it herself.
The argument for this is: Pregnant women should not let any wrong information encourage them to take a step that they might regret; and the impression should not be given that abortion is a matter of course. That’s why conservatives and life advocates are so attached to this paragraph, which has its origins in National Socialism – they fear that the door to a liberal abortion law could open.
No pregnant woman just drives off like that
However, studies show again and again: Neither the criminalization of information and the interventions themselves have reduced the number of abortions, nor has a liberal abortion law in a country led to an increase. Pregnant women around the world do not have an abortion because they can, but because – for whatever reason – they have the feeling that they have to, no matter how difficult it is made for them and how high their health risk is.
It is therefore urgently necessary to delete paragraph 219a – even if it is only a marginal relief for unwanted pregnant women. This is because women still do not have their full right to physical self-determination. They will only be free and equal when abortion disappears from criminal law – even if paragraph 218 falls.