The question of the regulation of abortions touches on divergent fundamental ethical convictions in our society, so there are no simple answers here. The position paper unanimously adopted at the weekend by the Council of Delegates of the Humanist Association of Germany (HVD) is based on the values of ideological humanism and is intended to provide guidance in answering this difficult question.
Christiane Herrmann, member of the HVD Federal Board, emphasizes: “For conflicts in the area of abortion, a new solution outside of criminal law must take full account of today’s biomedical knowledge, changing social values and ideological pluralism.”
Key points of the HVD position paper on the regulation of abortions
- It is unacceptable for women that criminal law prohibits abortions in principle and makes them a punishable offense. This must be rejected as stigmatizing, degrading and unsettling.
- The HVD advocates a time limit solution that takes into account the fact that the need for protection of the embryo or fetus increases as its development progresses. A period up to the 20th week would be justifiable, within which only the vote of the pregnant woman would count.
- An obligation to provide counselling with a waiting period in accordance with Section 219 StGB should be waived within the new time limits to be standardized. On the other hand, the offer of voluntary, open-ended counseling that can be billed to health insurance companies should be expanded. In difficult decision-making phases, those affected must have access to a comprehensive range of free psychosocial counseling services.
- Individual doctors cannot be obliged to perform abortions. However, it must be ensured that abortions can be carried out across the board in accordance with the methods and best possible standards that are medically available today, especially in hospitals, all of which receive state funding.
- Abortion is to be made compulsory in the teaching of medicine at German universities.
A detailed justification and further demands regarding the new regulation of abortionscan be found in the HVD position paper .
Erwin Kress, spokesperson of the HVD Federal Association, explains: “Practical humanism must recognize the value of a developing life on the one hand, but at the same time emphasize the autonomy of women with regard to their lifestyle.” Kress sees the well-founded positioning of the Humanist Association of Germany as the result of important debates and experiences within and outside the association. He would also like to thank the Protestant theology professor and ethicist Dr. Hartmut Kreß and the HVD Federal Representative for Medical Ethics, Gita Neumann, who were involved in drafting the declaration.
