Overview

• More than 200 people marched in Hamburg on Sunday calling for the decriminalization of abortion, according to dpa reports.
• The protest, organized by a coalition including Pro Familia, demanded scrapping the time-limit rule, mandatory counseling and waiting period, and full health insurance coverage.
• Under Paragraph 218, abortion in Germany is a criminal offense but not punishable after state-approved counseling, with procedures allowed up to 12 weeks after conception.
• Hamburg recorded 3,519 terminations in 2023, with 97% occurring under the counseling rule and 86 cases performed for medical indications, Statistikamt Nord reported.
• ZDF reports the Netherlands offers no waiting period, GP-prescribed abortion pills up to nine weeks, access until fetal viability and public coverage, ranking third in a European atlas compared with Germany’s 29th, while clinics there also report intimidation outside.