Under certain conditions, abortions are not prosecuted in Germany. However, they are not legal. This is due to paragraph 218 – and it is now causing political discussions.
Bavaria wants to maintain the existing legal position on abortion and, if necessary, appeal to the Federal Constitutional Court against a possible abolition of paragraph 218. The Bavarian Minister for Family Affairs and Women, Ulrike Scharf (CSU), told the newspapers of the Bayern media group: “An abortion ends life.” Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) ignores this with her plan to delete paragraph 218 from the criminal law.
Paus is pushing for a new regulation of abortions outside of criminal law. It’s about fundamental, existential questions, Paus had told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “For me, the penal code is not the right place to regulate that.” The traffic light wants to check this in this legislative period.
Abortion is generally a criminal offense
Scharf now said that this would be “incompatible with the constitutionally required protection of unborn life and unconstitutional”. She added: “If Paragraph 218 is deleted, I will do my utmost to ensure that the Federal Constitutional Court reviews the new law.”
Abortion is generally a criminal offense under the law. However, if the pregnant woman seeks advice beforehand and the fetus is not older than twelve weeks, she remains unpunished. Scharf said: “Without necessity, the Federal Minister for Family Affairs wants to tear down the next pillar of a carefully balanced compromise that has worked well for decades and ensures social peace.”
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In the summer of last year, the controversial Paragraph 219a, which stipulated a ban on advertising for abortions, was repealed.
Source: Stern
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