In countries and cultures where abortions are illegal, the complication rate is significantly higher, as abortions are often performed in unsanitary conditions and with questionable methods by mostly unqualified people – sometimes called angel makers in colloquial language – or the affected women themselves (self-abortion). In addition, abortions are often performed only in the 2nd trimester. According to the WHO, illegal abortions play an important role in the high mortality of women of childbearing age in countries where abortion is prohibited. [22] But even that doesn`t automatically make abortion legal. In addition, pregnant women must report to a state-approved pregnancy conflict counselling centre. After this appointment, a certificate of consultation is completed, which must then be presented to the doctor who performs the abortion. An additional period must be respected here, because there must be three days between the consultation and the date on which the abortion is performed. Abortion can therefore only be performed from the fourth day after the consultation. All this must happen within 12 weeks of conception, so only then an abortion in Germany goes unpunished.

The majority of illegal abortions are performed by laymen and mostly in medically and hygienically precarious conditions, often resulting in life-threatening complications. According to WHO estimates in 2008, about 47,000 women die each year from illegal abortions. This estimate has been lowered compared to previous estimates (69 000 for 1990). [22] The decline in deaths occurred particularly in South America, after women increasingly aborted drugs rather than through interventions. During the second half of the 20th century. In the nineteenth century, one European country after another relaxed its abortion laws, and so today, more than 80 years after Iceland`s legislative initiative, abortion is legal in most EU countries under certain conditions. However, the reasons considered sufficient for an abortion differ considerably. In principle, abortion is a criminal offence within the meaning of Paragraph 218(1) of the StGB. However, there are a number of exceptional cases in which abortion can be performed legally. On the world map of the Center for Reproductive Rights, Germany is colored blue. For women, this means that they are allowed to terminate their pregnancies at their own request.

Most other European countries as well as Canada and the United States also wear the color blue. According to the organisation, 95% of European women live in countries where they are allowed to choose to have an abortion. In many countries in Africa and South America, on the other hand, medical reasons are necessary. In some cases, a woman`s life must be in danger for an abortion to be legal. In France, abortion was first legalized in 1975. As in many other European countries, the time limit was twelve weeks until it was increased to 14 weeks in 2001. Other major changes were also made this year: among others, parental consent was no longer required in all cases for minors; from now on, any pregnant woman can also have an abortion on request, provided she is in a desperate situation. Until the 1970s, abortion was banned in many European countries. In the Federal Republic of Germany, for example, women who have had an abortion can be sentenced to several years in prison. However, there were exceptions: Iceland, for example, was the first European country to legalize abortion until the twelfth week in 1935 if the health of pregnant women was at risk and/or social circumstances spoke in favor of abortion. But even in 1913, the Russian Medical Society demanded legalization.

In 1920, in the Russian Soviet Republic – a precursor to the Soviet Union – a law was finally passed that exempted abortion from punishment until the twelfth week.* In 1936, Stalin repealed the law, and in 1955 it came back into force. As recently as 1968, the Pope ruled without flinching that abortions were “even if they were performed for the purpose of healing … absolutely to throw away.” [18] The German Chancellor was different: “There were many dark paths to illegality, there were many diseases and deaths that could have been prevented,” SPD politician Willy Brandt told the Bundestag in 1974, when the social-liberal coalition decided by a narrow majority and after several days of discussion on a solution of delay with impunity after consultation within the first twelve weeks. [19] However, the new regulation does not come into force. Nearly 200 union deputies and several conservative state governments appeal to the Federal Constitutional Court, and the highest court states bluntly: “The protection of the life of the body fruit essentially benefits […] Priority is given to the right to self-determination of pregnant women. [20] Only one indication solution was introduced in 1976: doctors can attest to “particular distress” in the medical, criminological, social and so-called eugenic fields. [21] In practice, many refuse to do so even in such cases. Involuntary pregnant women, as before, are often left only to illegality. In the GDR, in 1950, the Law on the Protection of Mothers and Children and women`s rights was promulgated, which, according to article 11, allowed abortion in the case of medical or embryopathic care and, in exceptional cases, from 1965 also social indication.

With the Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1972, abortion was legalized if it was performed by a doctor within the first twelve weeks with prior consultation and compliance with other legal provisions. According to estimates by the World Health Organization (2011), about 210 million women become pregnant each year and about 135 million children are born alive. The remaining 75 million pregnancies end in stillbirths, spontaneous abortions or abortions. About 40% of all pregnancies are unplanned and about a fifth of all pregnant women decide to have an abortion. This corresponds to about 42 million abortions per year, of which about 20 million are legal and 22 million are contrary to legal requirements at the place of performance. 
An abortion in Germany is not legal according to §218 StGB. Under certain conditions, however, it goes unpunished. When exactly this is the case, you can find under Unpunished abortion. Even if many do not know it, but an abortion is illegal in Germany, that is, illegal. If you want to terminate a pregnancy with impunity, you must meet certain conditions – and above all meet certain deadlines. In particular, the focus is on the question of when an abortion can be performed.