ABORTION in Germany should no longer fall under the country’s penal code and be made legal during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, experts said today.

Currently, abortion is considered illegal in Germany but not punishable if a woman undergoes mandatory counselling and a three-day wait period before she has the procedure.

Germany’s government had tasked an expert commission a year ago to look into the issue of abortion, which has been a hotly debated topic over decades.