Germany scraps Nazi-era law prohibiting ‘promotion’ of abortion

GERMANY has scrapped a Nazi-era law that prohibited doctors from advertising abortion services.

The German coalition government has agreed to scratch one of the most controversial sections of the penal code from the statute books.

The law, adopted in 1933 shortly after Adolf Hitler had taken power, prohibits the “promotion” of abortion, a crime punishable by “up to two years of imprisonment or a fine”. It is on this basis that courts have in recent years handed out penalties to medical professionals offering information on pregnancy terminations on the internet.

Some websites offered a simple statement that the gynaecologist carries out abortions, with no further details.

Among the doctors prosecuted in recent years was Kristina Haenel, a general practitioner from Giessen, in western Germany, who became the face of the campaign to ditch the law after being fined €6,000 (£4,900). Obstacles for practitioners dissuade doctors from offering the procedure in a country that was at the forefront of the women’s rights movement in the 1970s.

In June 2019, two gynaecologists in Berlin, Bettina Gaber and Verena Weyer, were each also handed €2,000 fines for the same offence.

“I’m pleased that taking an informed decision will now be possible,” said Ms Haenel.

Anti-abortion activists are behind most of the complaints against medical professionals. Under pressure from campaigners, many medics have removed all relevant information from their websites and have declined to be included in family planning lists shared with women looking for terminations.

In Germany, a woman wishing to have an abortion in the first 12 weeks of her pregnancy must have an obligatory consultation at an approved centre.

The aim of this dialogue is to “encourage the woman to continue her pregnancy”, even if in the end the choice was up to her. After the consultation patients must wait through a “reflection period” of three days.

Except in exceptional circumstances, such as a risk to the life of the mother or in the event of rape, abortions are not paid for by health insurance, despite sometimes costing hundreds of euros.

Around 100,000 abortions are carried out in Germany every year although the number has gone down in recent years.

In some parts of the vast southern state of Bavaria, no hospitals offer the procedure, with many women opting to cross the border to Austria instead.