Germany's family minister, Lisa Paus, has vowed to introduce legislation to stop anti-abortion activists from blocking access to abortion facilities, she told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) media group on Thursday.

The comments from Paus, a member of the Greens, come as anti-abortion activists planned a "40 days for life" protest campaign in front of counseling centers and medical centers in the 40 days of Lent ahead before Easter.

"Women must have unhindered access to counseling services and facilities that perform abortions," Paus told RND.

She described so-called "vigil" protests as "violations and unacceptable attacks on women's extremely personal decision."

"The German government will counter this with legal measures," the minister said.

Protesters targeting counseling centers

The protests, modeled on an international Christian movement from the United States, aim to close down abortion centers through vigils, prayer and fasting. 

The action comes as the center-left German coalition government moves forward with its plans to decriminalize abortion — a plan set out at the very beginning of its term.

Currently, abortion is illegal in Germany, but women and their doctors do not face penalties if the pregnancy poses a health risk to the woman or in cases of rape. There is also a loophole under which an abortion may be carried out within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy (14 weeks since the last period) after mandatory counseling.

Regarding the protests outside of counseling centers, Katja Mast, a lawmaker from the Social Democratic Party, called for swift legislation against protesters she accused of trying to apply psychological pressure to those seeking an abortion.

"The state dictates that women must seek counseling in a difficult conflict situation," German broadcaster Tagesschau cited Mast as saying. "Then the state must also make sure that women can access counseling centers without harassment or stigmatization."

Paus has said that her office is working with other ministries to introduce a bill to stop protesters from blocking access to such facilities.

"We are proposing an expansion of the Pregnancy Conflict Act to explicitly require unhindered access to counseling centers by law," she said.

According to the German Federal Office of Statistics, some 26,500 abortions were carried out in the third quarter of 2022, up by 16.7% over the same period in 2021.

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ab/sms (AFP, KNA)