Germany Fails to Advance Critical Abortion Law Reform

Statement from the Center for Reproductive Rights on stalled abortion law reform in Germany

Feb 12, 2025

The Center for Reproductive Rights expresses deep disappointment over the failure of Germany’s Legal Affairs Committee to advance a cross party proposal aimed at modernising the country’s outdated abortion laws and improving access to essential reproductive care.

Introduced in November, the proposal sought to fully legalise abortion on request up to 12 weeks and remove the mandatory three-day waiting period, among other key reforms. It followed a report from a government-appointed expert commission, released last year, which highlighted how Germany’s current abortion law falls short of international human rights and public health standards.

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/germany-fails-abortion-law-reform/

12.02.2025

News

abortion law reform

Center for Reproductive Rights

Legal Affairs Committee

three-day waiting period

A bill that would legalize abortion will be debated in Germany’s parliament

Green and Social Democrat MPs have introduced a bill that would legalize abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy.

By Elsa Conesa
Dec 10, 2024

This part of German law is referred to as "Paragraph 218": "Whosoever terminates a pregnancy shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years or a fine." However, a group of MPs has begun efforts to decriminalize abortion, hoping to take advantage of a brief parliamentary window created by the collapse of the current coalition on November 6, ahead of the federal election on February 23, 2025, which will elect a new Bundestag.

Abortion is illegal in Germany, although in practice it is not prosecuted if carried out within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy after a medical consultation. As the procedure is illegal, it is not reimbursed by social security. According to the Federal Statistical Office, around 106,000 abortions were reported in Germany in 2023, compared with 243,600 in France.

Continued: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/12/11/a-bill-that-would-legalize-abortion-will-be-debated-in-germany-s-parliament_6735952_4.html

10.12.2024

News

abortion decriminalization

German campaigners demand abortion be fully legalized

Femke COLBORNE
Dec 7, 2024

German campaigners are pushing for reform to remove legal hurdles for women seeking an abortion, with emotions running high on the issue as the country heads for early elections.

Under German law, abortion is illegal but tolerated in practice for women who are up to 12 weeks pregnant. However, a woman seeking to terminate a pregnancy must first receive compulsory counselling, followed by a three-day waiting period and many doctors say the process can be complicated as well as traumatic.

Continued: https://www.citizentribune.com/news/national/german-campaigners-demand-abortion-be-fully-legalised/article_6d07dcde-c96d-51b3-bd5a-16aec48b1e65.html

Abortion in Germany: Preelection push for liberalization

A left-wing cross-party initiative in Germany has been launched to decriminalize abortion in the early stages of pregnancy. Polls show public support, but conservative lawmakers are opposed.

Julie Gregson
Dec 2, 2024

Lawmakers from Germany's center-left parties want to make abortion legal in Germany — in the first three months of pregnancy.

Germany's paragraph 218 outlawing abortions first entered the statute books in 1871 and has long been controversial. While abortion remains illegal, women since the 1990s have been permitted to have them within the first three months of pregnancy without risk of prosecution if they undergo counseling at least three days before the procedure. Terminations in the case of rape or when the woman's mental or physical health is at risk are also exempt from punishment.

Continued: https://www.dw.com/en/abortion-in-germany-preelection-push-for-liberalization/a-70922840

Germany has a historic opportunity to modernise its abortion law

Center for Reproductive Rights welcomes presentation of new cross-party proposal to make abortion care equitable and more accessible

Nov 14, 2024

BERLIN—A cross-party coalition of Members of the German Parliament introduced a bill today intended to liberalise Germany’s abortion law. The proposed legislation would fully legalise abortion on request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and remove the mandatory three-day waiting period, among other key changes.

This reform marks a long overdue step toward aligning German abortion laws with international human rights and public health standards, paving the way for more accessible reproductive care.

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/germany-historic-opportunity-modernise-abortion-law/

14.11.2024

News

3-day waiting requirement

abortion law reform

Adriana Lamačková

Center for Reproductive Rights

mandatory waiting period

Germany Faces Growing Pressure to Reform its Outdated Abortion Law

New law proposed by German organizations and experts builds on recommendations from a government-appointed expert commission

Oct 24, 2024
Center for Reproductive Rights

On 17 October, German civil society organisations and legal experts unveiled a new model law that showcases how vital legal reform on abortion can be achieved. The proposal builds on recommendations from a government-appointed expert commission, released earlier this year, which highlighted how Germany’s current abortion law falls short of international human rights and public health standards.

The group is urging German lawmakers to use the model law as a framework for long-overdue reform, calling for urgent action to expedite the adoption of changes needed to modernise the country’s legislation. They also presented a petition calling on German lawmakers to align with the broader European trend of removing harmful barriers to abortion access and expanding reproductive healthcare rights.

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/germany-proposal-reform-abortion-law/

Abortions in first 12 weeks should be fully legalised in Germany, commission says

By Friederike Heine
April 15, 2024
(with video)

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany should lift all restrictions on abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy but keep its ban on the procedure after foetal viability, around 22 weeks, a government-appointed commission said on Monday.

Women in Germany now typically require counselling to obtain a legal abortion within the first 12 weeks, with exceptions including for victims of violent crime. There are no time restrictions for abortions if the mother's life is in danger.

"The fundamental illegality of abortion in the early phase of pregnancy is untenable," said Liane Woerner, a law professor at Konstanz University and a member of the 18-member panel of experts in medicine, psychology, ethics and law.

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/abortions-first-12-weeks-should-be-legal-germany-commission-says-2024-04-15/

15.04.2024

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

Europe’s growing abortion nightmare

Even in the absence of a ban, for women in need of abortion access, the overall picture is grim — and the worst is yet to come.

JULY 1, 2023
Reporting for this article was carried out by Akmaljon Akhmedjonov, Bernadeta Barokova, Yijing Chen, Pius Fozan, Timotheus Paul Goldinger, Kristina Kovalska, Leila Lawrence, Hanna Perenyi, Carina Samhaber, Stephanie Songer, Marziyeh Taeb, Tripti and Joseph Scioli, masters and PhD students at the Central European University in Vienna, under the editorship of Professor Marius Dragomir.

When she was 19 years old, Anna Peer had an abortion after her intrauterine device malfunctioned. “I didn’t realize at the time how lucky and privileged I was,” said Peer, now 24. “My gynecologist basically carried me through everything.”

But through her work for the Austrian Family Planning Association (ÖGF), an NGO that provides counseling related to reproductive health, Peer now sees “what the system’s actually like.”

Continued: https://www.politico.eu/article/europes-growing-abortion-nightmare/

01.07.2023