Germany ending 'untenable' ban on advertising abortions
ABC News
Germany’s justice minister has launched a drive to remove from the country’s criminal code a ban on doctors “advertising” abortion services, a provision that he says is untenable
BERLIN -- Germany's justice minister on Monday launched a drive to remove from the country's criminal code a ban on doctors “advertising” abortion services, a provision that he said is untenable.
The move is the first of several liberal social policies planned by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition, which took office last month.
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right party, now in opposition, had defended the criminal code's paragraph 219a, that bans advertising abortions. It carries a fine or prison sentence of up to two years.
Under a compromise in 2019, Merkel’s government left the ban formally in place but allowed doctors and hospitals for the first time to say on their websites that they perform abortions. They were not, however, allowed to give more detailed information.
