GERMANY’S justice ministry proposed a draft law on Monday to end the restrictions on doctors’ offering information about abortion procedures.
Abortion is technically illegal in Germany, but an exception is made in the first trimester if the patient goes to a counselling session. The procedure is free.
A Nazi-era law from 1933 also forbids doctors from providing information about abortion procedures.
The law has been criticised for making access to abortion more difficult.
“Doctors should also be able to inform the public about abortion without running the risk of criminal prosecution,” German justice minister Marco Buschmann said on Monday.
Currently, doctors are allowed to inform patients that they provide termination of pregnancy services, but cannot offer information on how the various procedures work.
The new law would scrap this censure. Doctors have only been allowed to advertise that they provide such medical services since 2019.
The governing parties had planned to propose such a reform during coalition talks in November.
The coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and the neo-liberal Free Democrats – of which Buschmann is a member – all agreed on the proposal, so its passage through the Bundestag seems clear.
One of the reasons given for the draft law was the ongoing legal uncertainty for medical professionals who provide the key services. The draft also explained that ease of access to abortion procedures varied across the country.
Buschmann described the absurd situation where the law permits any random person to spread any kind of information about abortions online, but medical professionals may not.
“The situation for the affected women is difficult enough – we shouldn’t make it even more difficult,” he said.
Buschmann clarified that the law on abortion itself would not change. It will remain illegal, but not a punishable offence if it is carried out in the first 12 weeks.
An abortion after that period is also not a punishable offence in cases where there is a threat of physical or psychological harm to the mother.
-DW
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