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  • Title: [Family planning--paragraph 218 StGB].
    Author: Jakob E.
    Journal: Offentl Gesundheitswes; 1981 Sep; 43(9):421-2. PubMed ID: 6213888.
    Abstract:
    40% of abortions in the German Federal Republic are in families with 1 or 2 children. Why are families refusing to have more children? They request abortions on grounds of medical emergency, but is this justified? Many physicians do not like to have to make these decisions, since their task is the preservation of life. Such emergency indications have been given very broad interpretation, including social and financial difficulties and conflicts of all sorts. But no birth is ever without some sort of conflict, and should these be adequate grounds for abortion? The purpose of the law was to provide better protection for the fetus. Behind this is the idea that women can assert "rights" even against the fetus and the further idea that only children who are desired should be born. But a human life is much too complex to be decided about in this way. Typical of today's abortion scene is the fact that no one wants to take responsibility for it. Doctors and advisors are supposed to leave questions of values out of the decision; hence they take no responsibility. In Bavaria we see as a major task to protect the unborn child and to give unbureaucratic assistance in the case of conflictual pregnancies. Here we follow these guidelines: 1) we have established new advice and referral centers for women seeking abortions, 2) these centers are also empowered to give financial assistance when needed, and 3) many women are persuaded not to have abortions and are given better advice on prevention of pregnancy.
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