The traffic light coalition's plans to abolish the ban on advertising for abortions are becoming concrete.

Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) presented a draft for the abolition of the controversial Paragraph 219a in Berlin on Monday.

This should enable doctors to provide factual information about abortions on their websites, said Buschmann.

With the deletion of the paragraph, an “unsustainable legal situation” will end.

Section 219a of the Criminal Code prohibits the advertising of abortion for economic reasons and in a "grossly offensive manner".

In the past, this has led to the condemnation of doctors who, from their point of view, had provided factual information on their practice's website that they perform abortions and what methods they use.

In the last legislative period, the SPD had reached a compromise with the Union, according to which the advertising ban was relaxed but not abolished.

According to this, doctors are allowed to provide information about the fact that they perform abortions, but not about the methods they use.

Instead, the German Medical Association keeps corresponding lists.

"Previous compromise insufficient"

However, this is insufficient, according to the justification for the draft bill from Buschmann's ministry, which still has to be agreed within the federal government and then discussed by the Bundestag. Doctors themselves are particularly important as sources of information. By being forbidden to make factual information publicly available, it is made more difficult for the women concerned to choose a doctor for a consultation or for the abortion, which often takes place under great time pressure. According to the draft, this violates women's right to sexual self-determination.

The chairwoman of the legal committee, Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker (CDU), only opposed the plans of the traffic light coalition on Monday, which would lead to free advertising for abortions on every S-Bahn in the future.

In an interview with the FAZ, she emphasized that even under the old regulation, there was by no means a lack of information for the women affected.