Abortions should no longer be a criminal offence in Germany, a commission of experts appointed by the German government has said.
"In the early phase of pregnancy (...) the legislator should allow abortion with the woman's consent," reads the summary of a report by the commission, which was presented in Berlin on Monday.
At present, abortions are possible in the early stages of pregnancy - within the first twelve weeks - on condition that the woman undergoes counselling beforehand. Abortions are also permissible if there are certain medical reasons or following rape.
However, these situations are defined as exceptions in the Criminal Code, which otherwise stipulates abortion a criminal offence.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party government had agreed in their coalition deal to set up a commission to examine the extent to which abortions could be regulated outside of the penal code.
"The fundamental illegality of abortion in the early stages of pregnancy (...) is not tenable. The legislator should take action here and make abortion legal and unpunishable," Liane Wörner, the commission's coordinator on the topic, said on Monday.
Although abortion is currently exempt from punishment under certain conditions, "it is still marked as unlawful, as an injustice." said the deputy coordinator, Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, criticizing the current rule.
A change is not simply a formality, she added. For the women concerned, it makes a big difference whether what they are doing is legal or illegal. "It also has an impact on the obligation of statutory health insurers to provide benefits."
The commission was also tasked with examining the possibility of legalizing egg donation and surrogacy. In their report, the experts considered both to be permissible under certain circumstances.