Yahoo Finance Germany relaxes abortion advertising law that criminalised doctors
Germany has agreed to loosen a controversial section of the country’s criminal code to now permit doctors, clinics, and hospitals to state that they offer abortions.
The law, known as paragraph 219a, was introduced by Adolf Hitler in the 1930s, and punishes medical professionals who publicly say for example on their websites, that they offer abortion services or advice. Under the law, medical professionals could face a fine or up to two years’ jail time.
Wednesday’s agreement between the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) means that, pending parliamentary approval, the law will be amended to let doctors say they offer abortions. However, they will still not be allowed to offer more information than that.
The German Medical Association will also be able to compile a list of hospitals and doctors who perform abortions.
The Social Democrats had pushed to remove the “advertising ban” on the medical profession when they formed a government with Angela Merkel’s CDU in 2018. They walked back their demand and now support this compromise. Many in the CDU were against removing the law, including Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who took over as party head from Merkel in December and is tipped by many as the country’s next chancellor.
“We are making sure that doctors, hospitals, and other institutions have the opportunity to publicly inform that they are carrying out abortions,” justice minister Katarina Barley said, describing the amendment to the law as a “good compromise.”
German doctor Kristina Hänel made headlines in 2017 when she was fined €6,000 for posting abortion information on her website. She refused to take it down, instead taking a petition to repeal the law to the Bundestag.
Hänel told the German Press Agency last week that the small change to the law was not good enough. “Women have a right to information and that is still prohibited,” Hänel said. “This is state censorship.”
Those in favour of abolishing the law say doctors should not be punished for offering women advice on how to find an abortion clinic and what to expect from the procedure. Critics of the law say it is ridiculous that supplying useful information is regarded as “advertising” or encouraging abortion.
Under section 218 of the German penal code, abortion is still classified as a crime, but a woman won’t be prosecuted if the abortion takes place in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. A woman seeking an abortion is legally required to have counselling, as well as consider the procedure for a few days.
Unless the woman’s life is endangered by the pregnancy, abortion is not normally covered by health insurance.
