Anne Klein Women's Award 2019

The 2019 award winners: Kristina Hänel, Natascha Nicklaus and Nora Szász

The three German doctors Kristina Hänel, Natascha Nicklaus and Nora Szász received the Anne Klein Women's Award for their tenacious defence of women's right to information.

The two gynaecologists and the general practitioner were reported for allegedly advertising abortions. This is judged to be a violation of §219a of the Criminal Code in Germany. All three refuse to remove the information about their medical services from their websites. They are engaged in a legal and public battle for women's free right to information and for the abolition of §219a StGB, which could be taken all the way to the Federal Constitutional Court.

The compromise of the coalition factions that emerged at the end of January 2019 does not bring real legal certainty: the mistrust against doctors has not been fundamentally eliminated and the entry into the decriminalisation of women and doctors has unfortunately not yet been achieved. Article 219a violates the fundamental rights to freedom of profession and information, the right to self-determination of patients and the principle of equality. The jury acknowledges the doctors’ courage not to give in like many others, but to fight a fundamental issue affecting all women, regardless of whether women want to make use of this right or not.

Kristina Hänel, Natascha Nicklaus and Nora Szász show in an exemplary way how civil courage can counter the systematic attrition tactics of the right. They are thus a role model for everyone, especially for young women.