Lust/Article 218
Paragraph 218 was the section of the Weimar constitution which prohibited abortion, which mandated prison sentences for both the doctors who performed abortions and the women who underwent them. It was the subject of significant campaigns calling for its reform, and even total repeal. Even though abortion was an issue with repercussions well beyond morality, the debate about the potential reform or repeal of Paragraph 218 was fought on nearly entirely moral terrain. Many conservatives viewed the fact that this topic was up for debate to be indicative of the moral decay Republic, and Leftist campaigns to change the law were largely unsuccessful. (Chapter 5, Grossmann, 1995). Paragraph 218 wouldn’t be substantially revised in East Germany until 1972 and in West Germany until 1976.
Bibliography:
Grossmann, Atina. Reforming Sex: The German Movement for Birth Control and Abortion Reform 1920-1950. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.