Germany moves to scrap ban on 'advertising' abortions

Germany’s justice minister says he will present legislation next month to remove from the country's criminal code a ban on doctors “advertising” abortions, one of several more liberal social policies that the new government plans

BERLIN -- Germany's justice minister says he will present legislation next month to remove from the country's criminal code a ban on doctors “advertising” abortions, one of several more liberal social policies that the new government plans.

The three parties that form Chancellor Olaf Scholz 's government have long opposed the current rules, but they were defended by the center-right Union bloc of ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel, which is now in opposition.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said in comments to the Funke newspaper group published Wednesday that there is a “huge reform backlog” on social policy. He said the first step will be to scrap a paragraph in Germany's criminal code that bans “advertising” abortions, and which carries a fine or a 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.