Germany: family minister wants to include abortion in medical training

Only recently, the ban on advertising abortions was abolished at the instigation of the "traffic light" coalition. Family Minister Paus stated, "We must not stop there."

The Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Lisa Paus (Bündnis90/Die Grünen), has spoken out in favor of including abortions in medical training.

“The various medical methods of abortion should be part of the training for doctors, for example,” she told the Tagesspiegel daily. To this end, she is currently holding talks with Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD).

The ban on advertising abortions under Section 219a of the German Criminal Code was abolished only recently, at the instigation of the “traffic light” coalition. Paus further told the Tagesspiegel, “We must not stop there,” and stated that, on principle, she is open to having Paragraph 218 of the Criminal Code deleted as well. Abortions do not belong in the penal code, the family minister said.

Article 2 of the German Basic Law grants every human being the right to life and physical integrity. According to the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court, as well as in the opinion of the former Federal Government, unborn life is life within the meaning of Article 2(2) of the Basic Law. Accordingly, § 219a of the Criminal Code had previously prohibited the advertising of abortions, while § 218 of the same Code prohibited abortions.

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