16.04.2024 – 15:56
CSU parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament
Munich (ots)
On April 15, 2024, the CSU parliamentary group leader Klaus Holetschek, MdL, and the deputy chairman of the Committee for Labor and Social Affairs, Youth and Family, Thomas Huber, MdL, met with the head of the Bavarian Catholic Office, Dr. Matthias Belafi, and the Bavarian State Church’s representative for relations with the state parliament and state government, church councilor Dieter Breit, held a discussion on federal political considerations regarding the reform of Section 218 of the Criminal Code.
The background to the conversation was the recently published report by the “Commission for Reproductive Self-Determination and Reproductive Medicine” appointed by the federal government. Among other things, it also recommends that abortion within the first 12 weeks be generally declared legal and that it be attributed to the woman’s right to self-determination.
The representatives of the CSU parliamentary group and the churches jointly stated:
We are committed to protecting unborn life. The current legal situation with Sections 218, 218a and 219 StGB takes a dilemma into account. On the one hand, it recognizes the protection of unborn life under criminal law in the interests of the rule of law and the humanity of the community. On the other hand, mandatory counseling regulations and the associated impunity protect the pregnant woman’s right to self-determination in a conflict situation in which she does not feel able to carry the pregnancy to term. The current law is an expression of an important, politically and socially hard-won compromise: it takes into account the high status of both legal interests – the protection of unborn life and the pregnant woman’s right to self-determination. The current law also makes it clear to society’s legal consciousness that the state is committed to protecting unborn life and therefore abortion cannot be normal. In the discussion initiated by the federal government about the need for reform, which is also controversial in the area of the Protestant Church and its diakonia, it should be noted that anyone who intends to abolish Section 218 – which is also the legal basis for the indispensable mandatory advice – must do so prove that other legal regulations better serve the protection of unborn life and the protection of pregnant women. There is currently no valid suggestion as to whether and how this could happen. Therefore, the tried and tested compromise should not be sacrificed without necessity and the current legal situation should be called into question.
CSU parliamentary group leader Klaus Holetschek said:
“We agree on the planned reform of abortion law: We stand and are clearly committed to the protection, value and dignity of human life. In addition to the mother’s right to self-determination, it is also about the protection and right to life of the unborn child.
For me it is very clear: such a serious issue as abortion must be regulated in the criminal code. This discussion was intense in the 1990s. It was a tough struggle back then. The result: abortion remained fundamentally illegal and punishable. However, with pregnancy conflict counseling, a viable way was found so that an abortion in the first twelve weeks can remain unpunished. This compromise was sustainable and brought different positions together. For almost three decades, this approach remained firmly anchored in the legal consciousness of the population. There’s no reason at all to break it now. That means: We want neither a tightening nor a softening, as planned by the traffic lights. A look abroad shows what this compromise is worth in terms of social peace. The CSU is also planning to submit an urgent motion to the Bavarian state parliament tomorrow.”
Press contact:
Sebastian Kraft
Press spokesman
E-Mail: [email protected]
Michaela Lochner
Deputy press spokesperson
E-Mail: [email protected]
Teresa Persard
The press officer
E-Mail: [email protected]
Original content from: CSU parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament, transmitted by news aktuell