"Thank You for Your Courage!"

Good evening, ladies, and guests!
Good evening, and thank you very much, Barbara, Ellen, and award recipients!

It is truly a great honor for me to deliver the laudatory speech here today in honor of these three very special women: Kristina Hänel, Natascha Nicklaus, and Nora Szász.

The jury’s statement, which Barbara just read here, reads as follows:

“With the physicians Kristina Hänel, Natascha Nicklaus, and Nora Szász, the jury honors their courage not to back down like so many others, but to fight for a fundamental issue affecting all women—regardless of whether women wish to exercise this right or not. Kristina Hänel, Natascha Nicklaus, and Nora Szász exemplify how moral courage can be used to counter the systematic attrition tactics of the right. They are thus role models for everyone, especially for young women.”

I am very pleased that, as a member of the younger generation, I am also able to deliver this laudatory speech today. And on behalf of everyone, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Thank you for your courage, but above all, thank you, dear Nora, dear Natascha, dear Kristina, for holding up a mirror to this society—to all of us. Because what you do should be a matter of course.

The year is 2019. On their website, the award recipients provide information about performing abortions and the risks involved as well as the methods that can be used. As doctors—as general practitioners and gynecologists—they are there for women in extremely difficult life situations. Or, to put it slightly differently, in the words of another woman who fought for one of the most important women’s rights a hundred years ago, Marie Juchacz: What these doctors do is a matter of course. They give women what had previously been unjustly withheld from them. It goes without saying—we as women shouldn’t have to be grateful for it. Yet even a hundred years after Marie Juchacz, it’s still not a given. The reality in 2019 looks different.

A Women’s Right That Holds True

The year is 2019. The award recipients state on their website that they perform abortions, and Kristina Hänel has been convicted with a final judgment. The year is 2019, and Natascha Nicklaus and Nora Szász are facing a new trial. It is the year 2019. The award recipients state on their website that they perform abortions, and they are attacked for it—not just once, but repeatedly, hundreds of times, thousands of times: with hateful comments that threaten their lives and physical safety.

It is the year 2019, and what they do is not something to be taken for granted; rather, as Barbara mentioned, the jury is honoring them precisely for this reason: It takes courage—a great deal of courage—because what they do takes strength, takes nerves, and takes moral courage, because it all happens outside of their regular working hours. It is by no means a given that one would stand up against injustice when one seems to be standing there all alone at first.

That is why we are honoring you here today, above all, for your courage, and we say: Thank you.

There are, after all, many women in this room who are actively involved in a variety of ways, who demonstrate moral courage, and who may have been fighting for women’s rights for decades—and I believe they can relate to this very deeply on a personal level. That’s why there’s so much support here—so much love, as you put it—and so much empathy in the room, because this courage is truly impressive. It’s always so easy to say, “You should be brave”… But what does that really mean?

The hardest part is this: At the beginning, you don’t know if there’s any support. At the beginning, you’re all alone. It’s not as if this started a year or two ago; for many years now, hundreds of doctors have been receiving complaints in the mail time and again. And many asked themselves: What should I do about this now? Who’s on my side? What are the legal options? Do I even have the money to file a lawsuit or defend myself in court? What’s the easiest way? It would be only natural to say: “Okay, then I’ll take that down from my website so I can focus on my actual profession—as a doctor—rather than being a part-time lawyer and fundraiser—just so I can even see this lawsuit through.”

Anne Klein Would Be Fighting Alongside Me

That’s why courage is the key—a courage that began here years ago. Back then, I made the decision not to back down. To keep fighting—not for myself, not for the practice—but for the many women who come here and need help. That’s why this award goes to the three of you, but also, by extension, to all those women who don’t back down in their daily lives but stand up for themselves, even if at first they think they’re completely on their own.

In the film, we heard—I believe it was from Renate Künast—why this award is so fitting: because that was exactly what set Anne Klein apart—putting her finger right in the mainstream’s sore spot. Right at the very beginning, when you don’t yet know that thousands will join you on the streets, to say: I’m going to do this now. I’m willing to take the risk of bearing the costs on my own for the time being. I’m willing to take the risk of not knowing how the patients in my practice will react. Many patients come in now and say, “Thank you for doing this! I’m proud of my gynecologist. I’m proud of my primary care physician.”—But you don’t know that beforehand. You don’t know how the patients will react.

There’s fear when you go to a court hearing for the first time: Who will be standing at the exit? Are they people just holding up signs, or are they people who might turn violent? It takes courage to face that—courage that has distinguished you again this year.

We’re not just talking about a website here. Dear Ms. Nicklaus, dear Ms. Szász, dear Ms. Hänel, we’re honoring you today for your courage in standing up against stigmatizing regulations. We are honoring you for having set something in motion. It’s not just your lawsuits. It’s not just your legal actions. Rather, what was crucial was that you motivated others to join in. As was said about Anne Klein: She had the strength. She had the charisma. She had the courage to inspire others, to get others excited, to join in, to say: “Join forces.” Alone, we may not be able to do it. But together, we can fight back.

Of course, in recent months you didn’t fight alone for the repeal of Section 219a; there were many, many women across the country. There were a great many women—and a few men, too—in this room who took to the streets. It is to your credit that you brought these women together. You succeeded in finding a new public issue for women, a new point of reference, a way to unite. On a single day, thousands took to the streets across Germany. I’m also involved in climate activism on the side, and I know how difficult it is to get people to take to the streets simultaneously in different cities. In Berlin, it’s easy—there are always plenty of people willing to join in. But getting women out onto the streets simultaneously on the same day in 30 German cities—and not just in major cities—to fight for their rights and against Section 219a—that, too, is to your credit. For that, too, we extend our heartfelt thanks here today!

Section 219a Violates the Right to Self-Determination

Barbara has already mentioned it: Anne Klein would certainly have fought alongside you in the streets—as a passionate activist, but also as a lawyer—and not just because, through her work as a lawyer, she knew how important it is for women to stand together in that arena as well. But precisely as a lawyer, she knew what it means when the law becomes unjust or is already unjust. Because she stood up against it whenever the law was used to discriminate. And that is exactly what is happening here. An existing law discriminates against women. That is why this is not merely a matter of women’s rights. That is why what this section of the law does to women in this country is a matter of high legal principle, a matter of the rule of law, and a matter of democracy.

Anne Klein would have fought alongside you, because she would have known exactly—just as you do—why some people are fighting so fiercely to keep this provision in the Penal Code. If one looks at the whole matter soberly and objectively, one has to ask why we do not rely on professional codes of conduct in this area. After all, medical professionals are generally not permitted to engage in advertising in a commercial sense. Everything that is reiterated in Section 219a is generally prohibited for medical professionals. And for all other measures—including other interventions in physical life, such as organ donation—we have professional regulations. But in this one case alone, people say: No, this belongs in the criminal code. Why? Because this isn’t just about the procedure in relation to women’s right to self-determination, but because it’s about power. And you have exposed and denounced the power structures underlying this issue. Anne Klein would have fought alongside you. And that is why the three of you so richly deserve this wonderful award.

You’ve already announced it: You’ll take this all the way to the Federal Constitutional Court, and your lawsuit is still pending. And we, as women, will not settle for this so-called compromise on Section 219a, but will continue to fight. What has now been passed in the Bundestag continues to reflect a lack of trust in female doctors—in you. Your cases have not been resolved by this. And it continues to reflect a lack of trust in all of us as women, because we are not trusted to make this decision.

Of course, no woman makes such a decision lightly. It is always difficult. But how many cases of women have there been—and continue to exist—in our country who suffer harm due to a lack of support, information, and assistance? In rural areas, where there isn’t a single obstetrician, gynecologist, or general practitioner for kilometers, women have no one to turn to if they can’t find information online. They can’t get the information they need. Or the appointment isn’t available for another three months, by which time it’s too late. These women carry the consequences of that with them for the rest of their lives. That’s another reason why your fight is so important.

Allocate the Funds for Education, Prevention, and Women’s Counseling!

And the five million euros that are now supposed to be spent on a study—we need those five million euros to strengthen medical support in our country. We need them for education, for prevention, for women’s counseling—and not for stigmatization. This award—which is absolutely beautiful, if I may say so—is not a thank-you award in the traditional sense: “Thank you very much, you did a great job,” but rather a motivational award, an incentive.

But the prize money is also important here. After all, you have to cover the legal costs yourselves—pay out of pocket upfront. That’s part of the tactic behind the lawsuits: not only to wear you down in your day-to-day work, but also to create a financial risk. That’s why the award and the prize money are also intended as support. In return, you should—and must—continue to use them for this purpose—you must promise all of us that. In return, we promise you—since some of you have been fighting a bit longer than my generation—that we’ll keep fighting alongside you.

And yes, it is a struggle. You all know this all too well: none of women’s rights fell from the sky. They were all hard-fought battles. In the beginning, it was just like it is for you. We stood on the very outskirts, all by ourselves. Then our numbers grew. Then we achieved partial victories—whether it was the right to have our own bank accounts in 1962, women finally gaining legal capacity in 1969, or the right to work without a husband’s signature in 1977. To be honest, I can’t even imagine that today. In 1997, marital rape finally became a criminal offense. Those were all hard-fought battles. And we must not give up now, dear women.

Just as you cannot be “a little bit” pregnant, you did not settle back then for the idea that “a little bit” of marital rape is okay, or that “half a bank account” is enough. That’s why half a Section 219a isn’t enough either. This section must be completely repealed. We will fight for this together, dear women.

Women's Power Is the Answer

What makes me particularly happy is that there are a few men here tonight, and that there were also some men at the demonstrations. This isn’t just an issue for women. It’s a sociopolitical issue. Barbara wrote in one of the latest issues of *Böll*: “Democracy needs feminism.” - I would even go so far as to say: Women’s rights are the barometer of our democracy. Women’s rights are the barometer of social cohesion in this country. That is why this is not just a struggle for women, but a struggle for our democracy and for the human rights of everyone in this country.

That’s why today you’re receiving not only the feminist Anne Klein Prize, but also the Democracy Promotion Award right here. You can really feel the new momentum: Feminism is entering the next phase—not just here in Germany, but worldwide. Setbacks can often be a good thing—they give us a chance to recharge and say: Now more than ever! For some women, this is their first time taking to the streets. For others, they’ve been doing this for 50 or 60 years—their entire lives. But the fact that we are strong together is currently evident not only across Europe but worldwide. It is the women in the U.S. who are standing up against the shift to the right—precisely because they are fighting against sexism. It is the women in Turkey who are saying: “This won’t do. We will not let our children be forced into child marriages.” It is the women in Poland who said: “Today is Black Friday; we are fighting for women’s rights.” It is the women in Spain who, a year ago, brought a million people onto the streets, saying: “We are holding a women’s strike because we do not accept impunity for rape.” And it was the women in Ireland who finally ensured that women’s right to self-determination is upheld there as well. That is what drives us. Girl power—here and now, worldwide, dear women!

In that sense, the three of you are just three among millions. But that makes it all the more wonderful, because being honored together is always the best.

Dear Kristina Hänel, dear Natascha Nicklaus, dear Nora Szász: You’re fighting for something bigger than a bullet point on your website.

You are fighting for women’s right to self-determination.

You are fighting for us.

And for that, I bow deeply to you. I believe all of us here in this hall do the same.

Thank you very much—you have more than earned this award.