Germany tries to stop pro-life demonstrators harassing women seeking abortions

Protestors at a demonstration against the US Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in front of the Brandenburg Gate near the US embassy in Berlin in July 2022.

By Giulia Carbonaro
30/01/2024

As the number of pro-life vigils in front of Germany’s family planning centres and clinics grows, the country is trying to prevent these places from becoming the stage of a US-style war for abortion rights.

It was March 2017 when Claudia Hohmann, director of the Pro Familia family planning centre in Frankfurt, saw anti-abortion demonstrators show up with signs and flyers outside the door of her workplace for the very first time.

Continued: https://www.euronews.com/2024/01/30/germany-tries-to-stop-pro-life-demonstrators-harassing-women-seeking-abortions

Germany cracks down on ‘pro-life’ protests

Protests outside abortion clinics and family planning centers are to be banned in Germany. Reproductive rights advocates have long pointed to the influence of US money and tactics on the anti-abortion movement in Europe.

Helen Whittle
Jan 24, 2024

Family Minister Lisa Paus (Green Party) announced on January 24 a draft law to prevent demonstrators from approaching or harassing visitors within a 100-meter (320 ft) radius of abortion clinics and family planning centers. Posters or flyers aimed at intimidating women will also be banned. Anyone violating the ban could be punished with a fine of up to €5,000 ($5,445).

Paus said that it was important that women were able to receive good advice in such difficult situations without being confronted with "hatred and agitation." "That's why we are striking a balance between freedom of expression and the right of assembly," Paus told German public broadcaster ZDF.

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-cracks-down-on-pro-life-protests/a-64877764

German abortion clinics targeted by US-style protests

Protests outside abortion clinics and family planning centers are underway in Germany. Reproductive rights advocates point to the influence of US money and tactics on the anti-abortion movement in Germany and Europe.

Helen Whittle
Mar 4, 2023

In the early afternoon on a gray and windy Friday in February, a dozen protesters from EuroProLife slowly began to appear opposite the Pro Familia family planning advice and counseling center in Frankfurt's Westend.

Clutching hymn sheets and rosaries, they chanted the Hail Mary prayer. Some held placards bearing images of smiling babies or a tiny clenched fist with the slogans "Unborn Lives Matter" and "Abortion Is Not a Solution."

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/german-abortion-clinics-targeted-by-us-style-protests/a-64877764

Germany’s coalition intends to liberalise abortion legislation

Abortion opponents want to protest for 40 days in front of abortion clinics. Germany’s Family minister wants to stop this and secure access to abortion counselling by law.

27-02-2023
CNE.news

Every year, the action group ’40 days for life’ organises protests across Europe around Lent. This year is no different in Germany. The demonstrations, modelled on the similar-named international Christian movement from the United States, aim to close down abortion centres through vigils, prayer and fasting.

The actions come as the centre-left German coalition government moves forward with its plans to decriminalise abortion — a plan set out at the beginning of its term. Family Minister Lisa Paus announced a law to give pregnant women who want to have an abortion unrestricted access to relevant counselling centres and medical practices. “Women must have unimpeded access to counselling centres and facilities that carry out abortions,” Paus told the editorial network Germany (RND). “Vigils in front of these institutions are border crossings and unacceptable interference in women’s highly personal decisions. The federal government will counteract this with legal measures.”

Continued: https://cne.news/article/2637-germanys-coalition-intends-to-liberalise-abortion-legislation

27.02.2023

German minister proposes that abortion be part of the medical career

By James
July 4, 2022

After the ban on publicizing information about the possibilities of performing or undergoing abortions in the country was recently lifted, Lisa Paus, German Minister for the Family, the Elderly, Women and Youth, said she was convinced that abortions are necessary. more steps in the same direction. The Greens politician told the Berlin “Tagesspiegel” in its Monday edition: “We must not stop there”.

The various medical methods of abortion should be part of the training of doctors, for example. Paus said that she is in talks with the Federal Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach (SPD) on these issues.

Abortions should be regulated “outside the Penal Code,” Paus said. She added: “In the coalition, we have agreed that we will establish an expert commission that will address the general situation of reproductive rights in Germany and develop reform proposals and recommendations.” It is important that the committee be open-ended.

Paus reiterated her personal opinion that abortion should not be included in the Penal Code. However, the minister clarified that she does not want to anticipate the Commission or interfere in its work.

Source: https://d1softballnews.com/german-minister-proposes-that-abortion-be-part-of-the-medical-career-germany-today-d-w-2/

04.07.2022

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Lisa Paus

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Germany scraps Nazi-era law that barred doctors’ abortion ads

Majority vote ends law banning doctors from offering information about abortion procedures

Philip Oltermann in Berlin
Fri 24 Jun 2022

Germany has abolished a Nazi-era law that criminalises doctors who provide information about abortion procedures.

The governing social democrat, liberal and green parties, as well as the leftwing Die Linke, provided sufficient votes on Friday to scrap paragraph 219a of the German criminal code, which meant any doctor who publicly “offers, announces [or] advertises” abortion services could face penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment or a fine.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/24/germany-scraps-nazi-era-abortion-law-that-criminalises-doctors

24.06.2022

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Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker

Kristina Hänel

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Marco Buschmann

Paragraph 219a German criminal code

A Hitler-Era Abortion Law Haunts Merkel, and Germany

A Hitler-Era Abortion Law Haunts Merkel, and Germany

By MELISSA EDDY
MARCH 27, 2018

BERLIN — She was an obscure gynecologist in a central German town who never intended to stoke a debate that is driving a wedge into Chancellor Angela Merkel’s new government. But faced with a fine under a Nazi-era law for publishing information about abortion on the website of her gynecological practice, Kristina Hänel said she had no choice but to publicize a prohibition that she calls “outdated and unnecessary.”

The law, paragraph 219a of the German criminal code, makes it a crime for doctors to publicly advertise in any way that they perform abortions, even though they are permitted in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. For decades, the advertising ban was largely overlooked. Many gynecologists who listed abortion among their offerings to prospective patients say they were not aware of its existence until they received notice from a prosecutor informing them of legal proceedings against them.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/world/europe/germany-nazi-era-abortion-law.html