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

Strafgesetzbuch ''Strafgesetzbuch'' (, literally "penal law book"), 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 Reichst ...

that prohibited medical professionals from mentioning that they provide 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 The bill that repealed paragraph 219a passed the Bundestag on 24 June with the votes of the Scholz traffic light coalition and votes from The Left party. Then, the Bundesrat confirmed the repeal, not 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, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

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

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

and the previous

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

Final reform in 2019

§ 219a was amended multiple times. The last amendment happened 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 ...

. The change allowed medical practices to mention on their websites that they conduct abortions, but no more information such as which methods they offered, how abortions work, or how safe they are. The new § 219a led to some more lawsuits with resulting fines. 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 or non-surgical abortion, occurs when drugs (medication) are used to bring about an abortion. Medical abortions are an alternative to surgical (also called procedural or instrumentation) a ...

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 early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnanci ...

. 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".

External links

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

References

{{Reflist Abortion in Germany Scholz cabinet Fourth Merkel cabinet