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53 La. L. Rev. 1315 (1992-1993)
The Abortion Question: Germany's Dilemma Delays Unification

handle is hein.journals/louilr53 and id is 1333 raw text is: The Abortion Question: Germany's Dilemma Delays Unification As a reunified Germany begins to jell, one divisive topic remains to be settled. This issue is abortion. East German law freely permitted abortion on demand within the first three months of a pregnancy., West Germany allowed abortions only if a woman met one of four criteria: endangerment to the mother's health, risk of damage to the child, pregnancy as a result of rape, or a life sithation that would make raising a child difficult.2 In the summer of 1992, the German Parliament, the Bundestag, voted to extend the liberal abortion law of East Germany to all of Germany and to add a restriction that women were required to obtain counseling at least three days before obtaining the abortion.' This leg- islation was signed into law by German President Richard von Wei- zaecker. However, the German Constitutional Court issued a temporary injunction blocking the new law on the day before it was to go into effect, due to a petition submitted which alleged the new ruling was unconstitutional because it violated the German Constitution's provision guaranteeing protection of human life.4 After two days of arguments in December 1992, the Federal Constitutional Court announced it was postponing its decision until August 4, 1993. Until the ruling is issued, Germany, politically united since October of 1990, will remain separated on the issue of abortion. A comparison of constitutional and legislative solutions to the abor- tion question is necessary to discover a resolution to the crisis facing Germany. West Germany and Canada are examples of two countries in which antithetical constitutional approaches to the abortion problem were formed. Countries in which the abortion question has been managed legislatively must also be examined. Finally, a solution to the crisis facing Germany will be proposed after an evaluation of the competing © Copyright 1993, by LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW. I. Still Divided over Abortion, Germany Awaits Court Resolution, The Chicago Tribune, Aug. 6, 1992, at C9. 2. Politicians Call for Clinical Trials for RU-486, The Week in Germany, Feb. 8, 1993. 3. Marc Fisher, Abortion Law Faces Fight in Germany; Both Sides Forecast Victory in Court, The Washington Post, June 27, 1992, at A15. 4. Constitutional Court Debates the Abortion Issue, The Week in Germany, Dec. 11, 1992. 5. Constitutional Court Postpones Decision on Abortion, Agence France Presse, Jan. 29, 1993.

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