I was under the impression that abortion, while legal, was taken with much more gravity in Germany compared to U.S. For example, is it not true that the mother must attend an educational course prior to the abortion to educate her on fetal development? And that the German abortion rate is lower than the U.S.?
That is not my impression (and I've lived here most of my life.)
To be sure, Germany lacks the millions of inner-city minority teens of America who revel in their unwed motherhood, so that would definitely skew the picture in favor of Germany viewing abortion as more "serious."
In general, I would say that, in Germany, the mere fact of an unplanned pregnancy, itself, would elicit greater emotional stress on the part of German teens and their parents, who would be appalled that the teens could have been so "careless," while the decision to abort would engender less soul-searching or spiritual turmoil.
For example, is it not true that the mother must attend an educational course prior to the abortion to educate her on fetal development?
That differs from Bundesland to Bundesland (and there are 16 Bundesländer.) Thus, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg are more Catholic and more conservative, and hence have stricter abortion laws. Consequently, there is a lot of "abortion-tourism" to other Bundesländer with laxer regulations.
To my knowledge, no "classes" are required, but rather only "counseling."
And that the German abortion rate is lower than the U.S.?
Yes, definitely - but not because Germans view unborn life as more-sacrosanct, or because they would have qualms about aborting. Rather, Germany has a lower rate simply because the population is more affluent and more educated, and because contraceptives are more freely available and less tabu.
Do you have large, government-sponsored billboards proclaiming the sexiness of condoms on every streetcorner there in the U.S.? We do!
Regards,