Gender and attitudes towards abortion in Germany. An analysis of the influence (PDF)

Scientific Essay from the year 2021 in the subject Gender Studies, grade: 1,3, Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen, language: English, abstract: This paper deals with the question, whether variables, such as gender, influence the attitude towards abortion. The addressed discourse on abortion is often dominated by women. But even if they are directly affected by the issue, because they are carrying out the pregnancy, it is clear that men cannot be left out of the debate.

Abortion is a difficult and therefore widely discussed moral issue, which is characterized by the fact that different value concepts meet and seem to elude any scientific discourse. The origin of the discussions about the regulation of abortion goes back a long way and yet it flares up again and again. A few months ago, for example, Poland tightened its already strict abortion law even further, declaring abortions unconstitutional due to the possibility of severe malformations of the unborn child.

Overseas, fears of similar measures are growing because of the appointment of pro-abortion opponent Amy Coney Barrett as a Supreme Court judge. Germany, on the other hand, seems to be taking slow but steady steps in the opposite direction. In early 2019, the German Bundestag voted in favor of a new version of Section 219a of the German Penal Code, thus contributing in part to improving information on abortion.

Paragraph 219a not only criminalized physicians quasi unintentionally, but also made it more difficult for those affected to access help. The debate about a change in the "ban on information", was triggered by the case of the physician Kristina Hänel. She was sentenced to a fine in 2017 because she listed the word "abortion" under the heading "spectrum" on her website.

Following the ensuing public debate, the responsible ministers spent several months preparing a new draft law to supplement the advertising ban. According to the bill, medical practices and hospitals will in future be allowed to advertise that they perform abortions. However, they are still not allowed to inform about which abortion methods they offer.