Survey on abortions in Germany: Large majority for legalization

80 percent of people in Germany believe that abortion is illegal. This is shown by a representative survey.

Protest against the abortion regulations in Germany on Women’s Day 2024 Photo: Pierre Adenis

BERLIN taz | More than 80 percent of the German population believe it is wrong that an abortion, which an unwanted pregnant woman decides to have after counseling, is illegal. This is the result of a representative population survey commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Women’s Affairs (BMFSFJ), which is available exclusively to taz. Around 75 percent also think that abortions should no longer be regulated in the criminal code in the future.

It is noteworthy that voters from all parties represented in the Bundestag clearly reject the illegality of abortions. Even in the Union, which rejects the legalization of abortions, it is 77.5 percent, and in the AfD it is 67.4 percent. 93.9 percent of Left voters and 92.4 percent of Green voters consider the illegality to be wrong; among SPD voters the figure is 87.5 percent.

Even broken down by religious affiliation, all groups surveyed find the illegality wrong. Even among Catholics it is around 65 percent.

Almost 80 percent of those surveyed also think it is right that the right to terminate a pregnancy in France has been included in the constitution. More than 86 percent think that doctors should talk openly about the fact that they perform abortions.

The survey was conducted by Civey on behalf of the BMFSFJ in March and April 2024. On Monday morning, a commission of experts commissioned by the traffic light coalition presented its results on the question of whether and how abortions could be regulated outside of criminal law. The SPD and the Greens had called for the abortion ban in Section 218 of the Criminal Code to be abolished in their election manifestos.