German Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) expects a prompt re-regulation of protection for women who lose a child during pregnancy, following internal agreements between the Bundestag fractions of SPD, Greens, FDP, and Union.
“I greatly welcome the broad, cross-party agreement on a tiered maternity protection for miscarriages” said the Green politician to the “Tagesspiegel” (Thursday edition), as it is planned that the rules of maternity protection will come into effect much earlier, already at a clear point before the 24th week of pregnancy: “This will finally close the protection gap for pregnant women in Germany.”
“A miscarriage can be a traumatic experience” said Paus about the agreement reached between the fractions: “The tiered maternity protection offers affected women the opportunity to recover and thus also to avoid possible health complications.”
Optimistic was also Leni Breymeier, the women’s policy spokesperson of the SPD Bundestag fraction: “It looks like we will pass the tiered maternity protection for miscarriages in the remaining sitting week in January, before the new Bundestag election.” The mandatory consultation with the associations is scheduled, according to Breymeier, “right on the first sitting day of the new year.”
While in Green circles the actions of the Ministry of the Family were assessed as “very helpful for the parliamentary process”, the CDU and CSU factions describe the emergence of the agreement differently: “The tiered maternity protection after a miscarriage was a heartfelt concern of the Union, and we have always offered our support to the coalition” said the CDU’s deputy federal chair Silvia Breher, the women’s policy spokesperson of her fraction, to the “Tagesspiegel”: “Unfortunately, Lisa Paus was not able to implement this important project. Therefore, we have submitted our own bill with a tiered maternity protection from the 13th week of pregnancy and are glad that SPD, Greens, and FDP now agree to this.