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.

The country’s approach to abortion has been more restrictive than in many other European countries.

Some German women have travelled to neighbouring countries to have the procedure.

Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, a law professor who is a member of the commission, said: “You can imagine that [decriminalising] makes a big difference to the women concerned, those who are in the situation of considering whether to request an abortion, whether what they are doing is wrong or right.”

Many women who have had abortions in Germany have described the mandatory counselling as humiliating, while others have said it helped them in their decision-making.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said the government would discuss the report in detail and share it with parliament.