Today, the plenary session of the Bundestag is debating the reform of abortion. This was made possible by the guaranteed right of parliamentarians to table a cross-party group motion on the issue, as one of the initiators, Carmen Wegge (SPD), informed the Humanist Association of Germany – Federal Association.
On the one hand, it is about the first hearing on the draft bill “New regulation of abortion”. Without the removal of the unlawfulness of abortions in the current Section 218 of the German Criminal Code, the increasingly inaccessible services for unwanted pregnant women can hardly be improved.
On the other hand, the submitted motion “Improving the care situation for unintended pregnant women” calls on the Bundestag to ask the Federal Government to take the following measures, among others:
- Obligation of hospitals with the gynecology service group to either terminate pregnancies themselves or to refer pregnant persons to a suitable facility on request;
- Ensuring that costs are covered by health insurance companies and that contraceptives are reimbursed;
- better integration of abortions in the medical training and further education of doctors in the catalog of learning objectives;
- Ensuring the right to counseling on all issues relating to pregnancy, sex education, contraception and family planning.
“It is difficult to imagine,” comments Christiane Herrmann, member of the Federal Board of the Humanist Association of Germany, “that an overwhelming majority will not vote in favor of this motion.” The current draft reform on the legality of abortions is a first step in the right direction. In this regard, Christiane Herrmann admits: “We would have liked to see a much more far-reaching new law, because unfortunately the draft retains the tight 12-week period for the legality that is now to be standardized. Although there has been impunity for the first 12 weeks so far, what would change with the current draft reform is that abortion would be legal and permitted within the set period for the first time since its introduction in the German Empire. This represents a major step forward, as it would no longer suggest that abortion is something immoral – which of course represents a hurdle for cost coverage, training content and financing.”
