German court fines activist for comparing abortion-physicians to Nazis

The District Court of Hamburg ruled Monday on a petition for an injunction filed by Dr. Kristina Hanel of Giessen, a city in western Germany.

FORMER PLANNED PARENTHOOD president Dr. Leana Wen speaks at a protest against anti-abortion legislation at the US Supreme Court in Washington on June 20. (photo credit: REUTERS/JAMES LAWLER DUGGAN)
FORMER PLANNED PARENTHOOD president Dr. Leana Wen speaks at a protest against anti-abortion legislation at the US Supreme Court in Washington on June 20.
(photo credit: REUTERS/JAMES LAWLER DUGGAN)
A court in Germany fined an anti-abortion activist for comparing physicians who perform the practice to Nazi doctors during the Holocaust.

 

The District Court of Hamburg ruled Monday on a petition for an injunction filed by Dr. Kristina Hanel of Giessen, a city in western Germany, against Klaus Gunter Annen, who runs a website titled www.babycaust.de.

“The plaintiff does not have to accept being compared to guards and doctors in the Nazi concentration camps and being called ‘degenerate,’” the ruling stated, according to the dpa news agency. Annen was made to pay Hanel, a gynecologist, slightly over $7,000 as compensation.

Last year, Hanel was fined the same amount for advertising abortions, which is illegal in Germany. Hanel had said on her website that she performs the procedure and was sued by pro-life activists. The case generated considerable media attention in Germany.