Paragraph 219a of the Criminal Code
The ban on advertising abortion has been lifted
“Today is a great day”: Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus. Photo: Carsten Koall/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Paragraph 219a, which has been controversial for so many years, banning advertising for abortion is now history. The traffic lights are cheering, the left also welcomes the step – the rest of the opposition is outraged.
The controversial advertising ban for abortions is history. A large majority in the Bundestag voted on Friday to delete the relevant paragraph 219a from the penal code. The Union and AfD factions voted against it, and there were no abstentions.
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) reprimanded the now abolished regulation as “absurd” and “out of date”. Section 219a had previously stipulated that abortions may not be advertised – but in the past this has repeatedly led to doctors being unable to provide detailed information about abortions without risking criminal prosecution. That should change now. The doctors are granted a right to information in the approved government draft.
A verdict by the US Supreme Court, which overturned the country’s liberal abortion law on Friday, pointed in a completely different direction. The mostly conservative Supreme Court in Washington paved the way for stricter abortion laws – even including complete bans in some US states.
Previous judgments are overturned
In Germany, the resolution of the Bundestag now also stipulates that judgments against doctors that have been made on the basis of the paragraph since October 3, 1990 are overturned. This applies to the Gießen general practitioner Kristina Hänel, who was convicted in 2017 on the basis of Section 219a and has been fighting for the abolition of the paragraph for years. She was sitting with other doctors on Friday in the Bundestag in the visitors’ gallery.
“Today is a great day,” said Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus. “Women’s health and self-determination – these are human rights.” Paus emphasized that the criminal liability of abortions must also be discussed in general.
The left welcomes the abolition of the paragraph – but this step does not go far enough. She is also calling for the repeal of Section 218 of the Criminal Code – which would mean making abortions per se unpunishable.
Outrage at Union and AfD
Union and AfD expressed outrage at the abolition of the law. MPs from both parliamentary groups have repeatedly emphasized that women can already obtain detailed information about abortions and that the rights of unborn life should not be neglected.
In order to ensure that “offensive” and inappropriate advertising for abortions will remain prohibited in the future, the approved government draft provides for the so-called Medicines Advertising Act to be expanded. For example, abortions without a connection to an illness would also be covered by the law, which previously regulated misleading advertising of medical products in other areas.
The law still has to be formally passed by the Bundesrat, but it can come into force without the consent of the Länderkammer.