If a woman decides to terminate a pregnancy in the first twelve weeks, there are precise rules - at least by law: she is obliged to seek clarification from a counseling center and then has to wait three days before the termination.

To do this, she must contact a doctor other than the consulting doctor.

But although 100,000 abortions are performed in this country every year, there are no instructions on the medical aspects.

When medication is indicated or whether an operation is the better choice – there has so far been no official guideline.

For other treatments, such as heart attacks or cystitis, these provide doctors with evidence-based instructions.

Such a guideline on abortion in the first trimester has now been presented for the German-speaking region.

From a medical point of view, it does not contain any major innovations.

It is not recommended to remove the embryo with a metal curette, which was still done for eleven percent of women in 2020.

In addition, attention is drawn to the increasingly poor supply situation, the number of practices and clinics that perform abortions has almost halved since 2003, while the number of interventions has only decreased by 26 percent.

The actual value of the guideline is symbolic.

Because it provides security for doctors and patients and helps to reduce the stigma that abortion still has.

According to the World Health Organization, only half of abortions worldwide are considered safe, and around 50,000 women die every year.

It is all the more important that, at least in Germany, everything is done to protect women's health.