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.

Ulle Schauws from the Green Party and Carmen Wegge from the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) are spearheading moves to abolish paragraph 218 before the end of this legislative period in February 2025.

The requirement for obligatory counseling is being retained in a bid to garner more cross-party support. However, the three-day wait following the counseling would be abolished.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has signed the proposal, drawing fierce criticism from his main opponent in the upcoming election campaign.

Christian Democrat leader Friedrich Merz, a Catholic conservative, has come out vociferously against the SPD-Green initiative, describing it as an "affront to the people." He said it was a subject that "polarized the country like no other and that was more likely than any other to unleash another completely unnecessary social conflict in Germany."

Polls, however, suggest strong public support for decriminalization. Seventy-four percent came out in favor of unrestricted access to abortion in the first three months of pregnancy in the latest RTL/ntv-Trend Barometer survey.

Criminalization affects women and medics

Medics who perform abortions are retiring. Medical students are not routinely taught how to perform the surgical procedure. Since 2003 the number of doctors' practices providing abortions has almost halved. The situation is particularly difficult across swathes of southern Germany meaning longer journeys for some.

However, when the center-left coalition government of SPD, Greens and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) came to office in 2021, it vowed to make reforms.

In 2022, lawmakers repealed paragraph 219a of the criminal code, known as the ban on advertising abortion. Under that law which had its origins in Nazi-era social policy, anyone who publicly "offers, announces [or] advertises" abortion services can face penalties of up to two years' imprisonment or a fine.

For doctors, the legal red tape, threat of prosecution, and possible harassment by anti-abortion rights campaigners also create a huge disincentive, according to Stephanie Schlitt, vice chairperson for Pro Familia, an independent body for planned parenthood which has been calling for legislative change since the 1970s.

There has also recently been a ban on what is known as sidewalk harassment making it a misdemeanor for anti-abortion activists to aggressively protest near counseling centers, hospitals, or doctors' offices that offer pregnancy counseling or carry out abortions.

Abortion fraught for women and doctors

Abortion remains a fraught process, according to Schlitt, involving high costs, complex paperwork, and stigma. Abortion costs are not generally covered by health insurance companies

Abortion pills are only allowed in Germany up to 49 days after conception.

In April 2024, a government-appointed commission of 18 medical, and ethical experts concluded that criminalization was no longer tenable under constitutional, international, and European law. However, its recommendations were shelved after pushback from some members of the FDP, which is now no longer part of the government.

FDP lawmaker Katrin Helling-Plahr has voiced her opposition to the latest initiative. She told katholisch.de, the online portal of the Roman Catholic church in Germany that she thought it was inappropriate "to throw such a complex topic in front of parliament in the final meters." But the FDP youth organization has written to all FDP parliamentarians calling for the debate to go ahead.

ProFamilia vice-chair Stephanie Schlitt criticized political attempts to portray the new cross-party initiative as a rush job. "This step is long overdue. Germany has one of the most restrictive laws regarding abortions in Europe," Schlitt told DW.

Open vote on abortion

Fierce opposition is likely to come not only from the CDU/CSU bloc but also from the far right. In its election manifesto, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) takes a 'pro-life' position, prioritizing the protection of the unborn child and rejecting any state support for abortion.

The new SPD-Green proposals are backed by the Left Party, which demands the removal of paragraph 218 from the criminal code and the provision of free contraception in its manifesto. It says current hurdles are incompatible with women's rights to self-determination — and disproportionately affect low-income groups. Schauws said she believed the new left-wing populist party Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) would either abstain or support the initiative.

With a likely shift to the right expected after the next elections, ProFamilia vice-chair Stephanie Schlitt sees "a historic window of opportunity." And she warned: "The polarization of society is more likely if the law remains as it is because women, child bearers, see that their interests do not count."

If the proposal is put to parliament, the vote will be an open one. It might see the CDU/CSU and the AfD voting together to oppose it — a dilemma for the CDU/CSU, as it has previously refused to cooperate with the AfD.

Edited by: Rina Goldenberg

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