One of the promises the new government made when taking office (in its coalition agreement) was to repeal §219a StGB. §219a prohibits doctors from advertising that they provide abortions – and “advertisement” has been interpreted very strictly in the past. Even a note on a doctor’s website saying “we perform colonoscopies, mammograms, and abortions” violated §219a, and doctors have gotten into trouble in the past because of it. §219a wasn’t all that big a deal for years, until anti-abortion activists discovered they could use it to harass and shut down doctors who performed abortions (and mentioned it publicly).

In practice, this meant that even if abortions (up to the 12th week, in cases of danger to the mother or baby, and some other circumstances) are not prosecuted, it was often difficult for mothers seeking abortion to obtain good medical advice about the procedure, or even to find a doctor who performs abortions. Additionally, most doctors were discouraged from offering the procedure.

The Bundestag has [now voted to completely repeal §219a](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/24/germany-scraps-nazi-era-abortion-law-that-criminalises-doctors), which means that doctors will be free to advertise that they perform abortions, and inform their patients about the procedure. The vote was pretty one-sided – only the CDU and AfD MPs voted against it, with every other party’s MPs voting for it.

§218 StGB remains in force, which means that the legal status of abortions in Germany hasn’t changed. As a brief summary, abortions are legal if:

* There is a risk to the health of the mother or baby (that includes babies being born with severe genetic abnormalities or handicaps), or
* The mother was raped, or
* The mother is younger than 14

Abortions are illegal but not prosecuted if:

* The mother requests the abortion, and
* They are performed within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and
* The mother gets advice/counselling about the abortion (and alternatives to it) from an official information centre, and
* The abortion is performed at least three days after the mother received advice, and
* The abortion is performed by a doctor

Personally I think this is an important step in the right direction. §219a is a horrible relic of the past (it was introduced in 1933 by everyone’s favourite band of fascists), and in my opinion giving women more information about their options and the consequences of those options is a no-brainer.

It’s an unfortunate coincidence of history that this vote took place on the same day that the Supreme Court in the US [overturned Roe vs Wade](https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/vjpfbh/supreme_court_overturns_roe_v_wade_states_can_ban/), removing the blanket right to abortions in the US, and allowing individual states to severely restrict or ban abortions completely.

Related discussions:

* [In /r/de](https://www.reddit.com/r/de/comments/vjjpvz/219a_bundestag_schafft_werbeverbot_f%C3%BCr/) (in German)
* [In /r/yurop](https://www.reddit.com/r/YUROP/comments/vjk2cr/breaking_germany_finally_deletes_paragraph_219a/)
* [In /r/TwoXChromosomes](https://www.reddit.com/r/TwoXChromosomes/comments/vjpmav/the_german_government_has_just_voted_to_repeal/)
* [In /r/worldnews](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/vjpbbf/germany_scraps_naziera_abortion_law_that/)
* [In /r/europe](https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/vjlhoy/germany_moves_to_reform_abortion_law/)

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