“Anyone who wants to appeal to the Federal Constitutional Court against a new humane and reason-oriented set of values in order to counteract the alleged division of society is actually calling for and talking about it,” says Erwin Kress, spokesman for the board of the HVD Bundesverband, assessing the new political situation.
Opponents of the reform are still based on the idea that life is animated from conception and worthy of protection, an image of God. Even within the churches, this dogmatic view is controversial. It does not find a majority among the population. In the Protestant church in particular, there are also clear deviations from it in the leadership.
Their conservative-Christian supporters call the existing criminal law regulation from 1995 a “compromise” that has been painstakingly achieved and has stood the test of time ever since. Surprisingly, they ignore the fact that this law, which was laid down by the Federal Constitutional Court 30 years ago, is probably also in need of reform in their view. After all, with almost 3,500 late-term abortions permitted every year, even until shortly before birth, due to malformations or diseases diagnosed prenatally today, it does not provide for any concept of life protection for these fetuses (for example, through mandatory counselling or an independent indication).
“We want to draw attention to a blatant contradiction in values,” says Gita Neumann, Medical Ethics Officer of the HVD Federal Association. “Because the conventional concept of human dignity of so-called pro-lifers focuses on the early embryonic stage or even the egg cell, to the neglect of the welfare of highly developed fetuses or even the fate of the children born.”
In the opinion of the HVD, time limit regulations based on scientific evidence must also move away from a merely metaphysical three-month time limit – which many EU countries have already extended. Instead, two developmental phases from the 20th week of pregnancy are decisive: the incipient ability to feel pain and the ability to survive outside the uterus.
The HVD has already presented its position on the decriminalization of abortion in Germany in a statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council. The joint declaration by the HVD and Humanists International emphasized that abortion is not a crime, but a right of women that is protected by a number of international human rights instruments.
The detailed position of the HVD can be found in the brochure “Zur Neuregelung von Schwangerschaftsabbrüchen”.
