Germany is set to introduce paid leave for women who experience miscarriages. — Freepik
GERMANY is set to introduce paid leave for women who experience miscarriages, following a cross-party agreement between Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s minority government and opposition lawmakers.
Media reports recently suggest a corresponding bill has received support from Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), his Green coalition partners, the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the pro-business Free Democrats.
SPD lawmaker Leni Breymeier recently said in an interview with the Spiegel magazine that the law could potentially be passed in the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament this month, ahead of the upcoming elections set for Feb 23.
Currently, paid maternity leave in Germany does not apply to miscarriages, which are medically considered as the premature end of a pregnancy up to the 24th week.
A new staggered regulation is planned to start significantly earlier.
Family Minister Lisa Paus, from the Greens, supports extending maternity protection to women who suffer a miscarriage from the 15th week of pregnancy, while the conservative Christian Democratic Union advocates for a regulation from the 13th week.
“I welcome very much that a broad cross-party agreement for staggered maternity protection in the case of miscarriages is now emerging,” Paus told Tagesspiegel newspaper.
She noted that a miscarriage can be a traumatic experience and that staggered maternity protection offers affected women the opportunity to recover and avoid possible health complications. – dpa
