Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf criticizes the Union after its failed candidacy for constitutional judge

The legal scholar Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf accuses the Union in the Bundestag of refusing to discuss the issue of abortion with her. During discussions as part of her candidacy for the office of judge at the Federal Constitutional Court, Union MPs had the opportunity to ask her about her position on abortion, the lawyer said in an interview with “Spiegel”. In this way, misunderstandings could have been clarified.

“But they didn’t, even though I would have liked to,” said the 55-year-old. “There was no such conversation after that.” As a result, the Union faction refused to have a clarifying discussion with her. “That’s a shame because politicians decide who fills one of the highest state offices in Germany.”

Brosius-Gersdorf was nominated for the office in Karlsruhe by the SPD around a year ago. But the Union had considerable reservations, among other things because of its position on abortion rights. After a heated public debate, the lawyer decided not to run for office.

“The election of judges has shown how vulnerable our democracy is to unobjective and unfair campaigns,” the Potsdam professor told the magazine. There were targeted campaigns last year, also to damage the Federal Constitutional Court. The AfD, right-wing media and the so-called life protection organization “1000 plus” were among those involved.

"Beatrix von Storch in particular railed against me massively. In my impression, the AfD wanted, among other things, to prevent me from getting a seat in the Second Senate - in the body that would decide on a ban on the AfD in the event of an application. And it was probably also about driving a wedge into the government," she explained further. When asked whether she thought a ban on the AfD was right, Brosius-Gersdorf replied: “Contrary to what was claimed, I have never spoken out in favor of a ban on the AfD.”

Regarding her comments on abortion, Brosius-Gersdorf said that she had pointed out a legal dilemma in the decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court: "If the human dignity guarantee is given to the embryo without the possibility of balancing it with the fundamental rights of the woman, then logically there can be no legal abortion, not even in the case of medical indication when the woman's life is at risk, or in the case of a criminological indication, for example after rape."

Such abortions are already legal today, with the express permission of the Federal Constitutional Court. "This dilemma can only be solved if either the guarantee of human dignity does not apply to the embryo or if it can be considered at this stage. I have never denied the embryo's right to life, even if some have presented it that way."