Bundestag passes law against sidewalk harassment of pregnant women
According to the draft law, it will now be prohibited to deliberately make it difficult for pregnant women to enter institutions by creating obstacles. Additionally, it will be forbidden to forcefully impose one's opinion on pregnant women regarding the continuation of their pregnancy, to put significant pressure on them, or to influence them with false factual statements.
This applies to observable behaviors within a range of 100 meters around the entrance areas of counseling centers and institutions where abortions are performed.
With the law, the personnel of such institutions will also be protected: It is now forbidden to deliberately hinder or obstruct this personnel during the provision of information on abortions and the performance of abortions. Violations of the now prohibited harassments and obstructions are considered an administrative offense and will be punished with a fine of up to 5000 Euro.
SPD Parliamentary Manager Katja Mast (SPD) stated in the Bundestag that such harassments have existed for some time everywhere. They could not be solved with the existing ordinance law. "There is only one side to choose from in this conflict - and that is the side of the affected women," Mast emphasized. "We are regulating this today with our law."
CDU Deputy Bettina Margarethe Wiesmann, however, denied the existence of such harassments: "What they designate as a problem does not exist at all." A "pauschal buffer zone" around the institutions is therefore disproportionate. Wiesmann argued that there are only watchmen, which could be regulated with existing laws. The CDU politician accused the traffic light coalition of shifting the coordinates "at the expense of freedom of opinion and assembly" with the legislative amendment.
The draft law of the Family Ministry must still be discussed in the Bundesrat. It does not require approval there - the conciliation committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat can, however, be summoned by the Federal Council.
- The new law, discussed in the Bundestag, aims to prohibit creating obstacles for pregnant women to enter the Bundestag, clinics, and other institutions, specifically within a 100-meter range of their entrances.
- Advice centers and clinics that provide abortion services have experienced a form of sidewalk nuisance, and Katja Mast, the SPD Parliamentary Manager, has advocated for the establishment of an advice center in Germany to shield pregnant women from such harassments.
- The SPD's draft law stipulates that any form of hinderance or obstruction of personnel providing information on abortions or performing the procedure will be considered an administrative offense, punishable with a fine of up to 5,000 Euro.
- SPD's Katja Mast urged the Bundestag to regulate the matter with the new law following reported instances of harassment towards pregnant women and professionals working at clinics, emphasizing that "there is only one side to choose from in this conflict - and that is the side of the affected women."
