§ 219a () was a German penal law in the

Strafgesetzbuch ''Strafgesetzbuch'' (), abbreviated to ''StGB'', is the German penal code. History In Germany the ''Strafgesetzbuch'' goes back to the Penal Code of the German Empire passed in the year 1871 on May 15 in Reichstag which was largely identica ...

that prohibited medical professionals from mentioning that they provided abortions. It is out of force since 19 July 2022. The bill that repealed paragraph 219a passed the Bundestag on 24 June with the votes of the Scholz traffic light coalition and votes from The Left party. The Bundesrat passed it without using its right to objection on 8 July. The repeal was signed into law by the German federal president on 18 July 2022.

History

The law dated back to § 219 and § 220 of the Reichsstrafgesetzbuch as at 1 June 1933, in early

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Both paragraphs resulted from a right-wing populist debate dating back to the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

and the previous

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

Final reform in 2019

In 2019, under the

Fourth Merkel cabinet The Fourth Merkel cabinet (German: ''Kabinett Merkel IV'') was the 23rd Government of the Federal Republic of Germany during the 19th legislative session of the Bundestag. It was sworn in on 14 March 2018 following the 2017 federal election and d ...

, Germany for the last time reformed § 219a. This allowed medical practices to mention on their websites that they conduct abortions, but no more. The new § 219a led to some more sentences. The first medical doctor sentenced under the reformed paragraph was fined 2,000 euros in 2019 for stating, "

Medical abortion A medical abortion, also known as medication abortion, occurs when drugs (medication) are used to bring about an abortion. Medical abortions are an alternative to surgical abortions such as vacuum aspiration or dilation and curettage. Medical ...

without anaesthetic in a protected atmosphere is also part of our services." The violation consisted in specifying, beyond the mere fact they offer abortions, that the procedure was "without anaesthetic" and "medical" as opposed to

surgical abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnan ...

. In another case in 2019, a German gynaecologist practice was fined 2,500 euros for stating on their website that they conducted "abortion, surgically or medically with Mifegyne".

Links

§ 219a Strafgesetzbuch
at dejure.org – The law with commentary

References

{{Reflist Abortion in Germany Scholz cabinet Fourth Merkel cabinet