Goethe Immortalised The Shaming Of German Women 200 Years Ago – We’re Still At It | Fatma Aydemir

Every federation has literate classics that style its taste identity. Germans person Faust, Goethe’s play astir nan successful but dissatisfied intelligence Dr Heinrich Faust, who makes a woody pinch nan devil. Faust has been performed, referenced and publication successful schools for much than 2 hundreds of years now. Interestingly, nan astir tragic characteristic successful this calamity is not nan protagonist, but his “love interest”, Gretchen – a teenage woman groomed by nan aged man, impregnated and socially ostracised. Her solution? She drowns her “illegitimate” newborn child, accepts her decease punishment and rejects Faust’s connection to prevention her from prison. In God’s mercy, nan Christian woman seeks salvation and disconnected goes Faust pinch nan devil to caller adventures successful Faust, Part Two.

What would Gretchen do today, I wonder. Her destiny is not only a consequence of intersexual maltreatment and an inherently misogynistic morality, but besides nonexistent reproductive rights. In today’s Germany, abortion is still forbidden nether nan criminal code. It is nonpunishable nether definite conditions, peculiarly during nan first 12 weeks of pregnancy, but nonetheless, successful believe a modern-day Gretchen mightiness person trouble uncovering a expert consenting to execute a termination, depending connected wherever she lives. Moreover, Gretchen mightiness beryllium intimidated by nan stigma, which is not conscionable societal but enshrined successful German law.

For decades now, nan so-called paragraph 218 that criminalises abortion has been taxable to governmental debate. Poland and nan US are surviving impervious that, moreover if not prosecuting anyone for carrying retired aliases procuring an abortion is nan accepted practice, that tin beryllium toppled quickly erstwhile ultraconservatives are successful power.

The past German government, nether nan Social Democratic party’s (SPD) Olaf Scholz, made an effort to betterment paragraph 218 earlier losing power, but failed. Obviously, cipher expects nan existent German government, led by nan blimpish Christian Democratic Union (CDU), to return immoderate progressive decisions connected nan correct to beingness self-determination. But what is now happening astatine nan Bundestag goes further than preserving this outdated rule – which must surely autumn foul of world quality authorities standards.

After weeks of an orchestrated rightwing social media campaign, nan predetermination by nan Bundestag of 3 caller judges to nan law tribunal (Germany’s highest court) was unexpectedly cancelled past week. The reason: 1 of candidates, Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, a 54-year-old jurist and professor, stands accused of holding extremist leftwing positions, because she supports nan decriminalisation of abortion.

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel astatine nan Bundestag, Berlin, 11 July 2025. Photograph: Nadja Wohlleben/Reuters

Anyone who has listened to aliases read Brosius-Gersdorf’s judicial reasoning knows that she afloat relies connected nan German constitution successful her arguments and cautiously evaluates nan authorities of nan mother and nan embryo depending connected nan shape of pregnancy. In nan early phase, according to Brosius-Gersdorf, nan mother’s authorities predominate. In nan later phase, arsenic soon arsenic nan embryo is viable, nan embryo’s correct to life has to beryllium protected.

Claims that Brosius-Gersdorf is successful favour of abortions until nan ninth period of gestation are blatant lies, dispersed by rightwing media arsenic good arsenic far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) politicians.

The truth that Brosius-Gersdorf, who was nominated by nan SPD, besides argues for a prohibition connected nan AfD owed to nan classification of it by German intelligence arsenic rightwing extremist mightiness person been nan existent trigger for nan propaganda run against her.

Other accusations person circulated astir nan jurist’s proposal for compulsory vaccination during nan pandemic, and allegations that her PhD thesis was plagiarised (which were proven to beryllium false). But not until nan attraction fell connected her allegedly extremist views connected abortion did nan mobilisation succeed. Parts of nan governing conjugation – 50 to 60 Christian Democrat MPs – raised doubts astir her nomination, which led to postponement of nan vote, which will astir apt now beryllium delayed until aft nan summertime recess. Appointments to nan law tribunal require a two-thirds parliamentary mostly successful a concealed ballot.

Her critics now expect Brosius-Gersdorf to withdraw, though nan SPD, Greens and nan leftwing statement Die Linke proceed to uphold her nomination.

Now, each of this mightiness sound very acquainted to those who person followed nan US civilization wars of nan past decade. Some commentators speak of nan “Trumpification of German politics”, since nan full debacle is founded connected clone news and defamation. But nan stigma of abortion itself is not an imported phenomenon. It is portion of German taste identity, perpetuated by nan Gretchen tragedy, which has ne'er really gone retired of date.

Paragraph 218, by nan way, is simply a relic from nan 1871 criminal codification and almost arsenic aged arsenic Faust. Gretchen would surely beryllium amazed that truthful small has changed erstwhile it comes to bodily autonomy.

• Fatma Aydemir is simply a Berlin-based author, novelist, playwright and a Guardian Europe columnist