“My belly belongs to me.” That was the slogan that accompanied the demand for the abolition of the criminal liability for abortion, regulated in Section 218 of the Criminal Code. The result: The construct of illegal self-determination exists in Germany. Is this a Solomonic solution or a “grace”?
According to the Criminal Code, abortion is generally a criminal offense, but exceptions apply. The requirements of the so-called counseling regulation stipulate that a woman who “requests the procedure” must seek advice from a state-recognized pregnancy conflict counseling center three days before the procedure. The consultation certificate must be presented to the doctor who was not allowed to take part in the consultation. If the abortion ultimately occurs within twelve weeks of conception, “none of those involved in the abortion can be punished.” In addition, there are justifiable reasons that cause impunity, medical or criminological reasons, such as abortion after rape.
The topic is on the agenda
The legislator wanted to take into account the woman's right to dispose of her own body, the child's right to life and the ban on discrimination before birth. A commission on reproductive self-determination and reproductive medicine has been meeting since the end of March 2023. She looks at regulations for abortion outside the criminal code and the legalization of egg donation and surrogacy. An expertise should be available in the next few days. The topic is on the agenda.
The ZDFneo series “Gut Feeling” is about these connections. “Gut Feeling” by Esther Rauch (writer and director) and Anneke Janssen (book), as well as Lisa Eidenhammer (camera) is seen as a “contribution to the discourse”. Typically, such announcements are a sure sign of narrative disaster. But things are different here, especially thanks to the two main actors Laura Berlin and Ludwig Trepte as Lena and Felix.
For six 15-minute episodes, “Bauchfühlen” follows the married couple, their daughter Greta (Lilo Nika Daners), Lena’s sister Toni (Luise von Finckh), friend Max (Jan Liem), his wife Zoe (Davina Donaldson) and others through the Story of Lena's unwanted pregnancy and her abortion.
The series doesn't rely on cheap solutions
The series, which is aimed primarily at 20 to 35 year olds, does not choose cheap solutions. She doesn't operate with guilt or shame, she is realistic, realistic, emotional and strives to be objective in everything. Lena and Felix did not use contraception because their first pregnancy only came about with the help of artificial insemination. Medically, re-conception seemed all but impossible. A miracle, but not one that makes Lena feel happy. The family is currently packing for a two-year professional stay in Bangkok – teacher Lena's lifelong dream. Her husband Felix is flexible as a graphic designer. Daughter Greta is loved dearly and is developing splendidly. Another child? Not right now, maybe never. This is where the gauntlet begins. As the pharmacist (Kai Schumann) says, from whom Lena buys a test that approximately determines the week of pregnancy: “There is no other decision in life that you have as little time for as far-reaching as this one.”
Trailer
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“gut feeling”
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Video: ZDFmediathek, image: dpa
Time is running out after Lena has made her decision. There are no appointments for ultrasounds in the gynecologist's office, the staff is unfriendly, and detailed information and understanding support are hard to come by. Felix mourns, doesn't understand it, and moves out. Lena's sister helps, the parents shouldn't know anything. At the counseling center, an employee tries to change Lena's mind and put her under moral pressure. In front of the clinic, demonstrators walk around with baby dolls and insult Lena as a murderer.
“Gut feeling” spares the audience little, not even the actual abortion, tears, sadness, and the couple's falling out. Berlin and Trepte play this very differently, far from “thesis television”. It's about looking, not judging. In addition, “gut feeling” also represents something clear. For example, when the doctor Dr. Roithner (Antje Lewald) talks about her experience with the taboos surrounding abortion or shows how Lena's decision is questioned as a kind of mental confusion. She finds peace in the zoo in front of the aquarium when she meets a childhood friend, a former priest. Both are concerned with the question of the soul, with absolutes, with life, with failure and success. The series denies that a woman who has an abortion will forever feel guilty. That she is a frivolous, selfish person, too. “Gut feeling” doesn’t make things easy for us or ourselves.
Gut feeling is available in the ZDF media library and will be shown on ZDFneo on April 7th from 8:15 p.m.
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