Care gap in Lower Saxony: where women find hardly any help!

The supply Situation for women who want to end pregnancy in Lower Saxony is unevenly distributed. A current analysis of data from the Ministry of Health shows that the number of doctors who carry out abortions fluctuates sharply in the various regions. A total of 123 doctors are available in Lower Saxony, but their distribution is very different.

The following offers have arisen in the various supply areas: In the first supply area, which includes the districts of Cuxhaven, Harburg, Osterholz, Rotenburg and Stade, only 11 doctors, while in the second area (Celle, Gifhorn, Lüchow-Dannenberg, Lüneburg, Soltau-Fallingbostel, Uelzen, Wolfsburg) are already available. The third area (Helmstedt, Hildesheim, Peine, Wolfenbüttel, Braunschweig, Salzgitter) has the most providers with 30 doctors. In the fourth area (Göttingen, Goslar, Holzminden, Northeim) there are only 6 doctors.

regional differences and criticism

The CDU politician Laura Hopmann criticized this division and pointed out that there may be entire counties without adequate medical care. Your concerns also refer to the type of data preparation, which is not based on land circles but according to care areas. The Ministry of Health has confirmed that women partially switch to neighboring federal states because the paths there can be shorter. At the same time, it is emphasized that the subjectively perceived supply situation can be perceived worse than the actual numbers.

Another challenge results from the fact that women are often faced with mentally and social pressure when they consider a termination. The professional association for gynecologists (BVF) Lower Saxony sees no acute care problems and emphasizes that many women travel to other cities for reasons of anonymity.

political initiatives

The SPD and the Greens in the Lower Saxony state parliament meanwhile campaign for the legalization of abortions in the first twelve weeks and the improvement of the consulting structures. Health Minister Andreas Philippi (SPD) also demands that abortions become an integral part of the medical studies to ensure broader medical care.

In summary, the current situation in Lower Saxony shows a clear supply gap that not only affects the availability of doctors, but also the social and psychological framework for affected women. The CDU has already called for measures to tackle this urgency and to improve medical care sustainably.