An independent experts commission recommended Monday that abortion in Germany should no longer fall under the country's penal code and be made legal during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Currently, abortion is considered illegal in Germany but not punishable if a woman undergoes mandatory counseling and a three-day wait period before she has the procedure.
“This is not simply a formality, but you can imagine that it makes a big difference to the women concerned, those who are in the situation of considering whether to request an abortion, whether what they are doing is wrong or right,” she added. Many women who have had abortions in Germany have described the mandatory counseling as humiliating, while others have said it helped them in their decision-making.