(LifeSiteNews) — German Bishop Heinrich Timmerevers has called the current abortion law in Germany a “viable compromise” despite the fact that around 100,000 unborn babies are killed each year.

During a recent discussion held in a brewery in Zwötznitz, Saxony, Timmerevers received questions regarding the German Bishops’ Conference’s (DBK) condemnation of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party. During the discussion, someone brought up the fact that the AfD would oppose abortion more clearly than other parties. According to a report by domradio.de, Timmerevers said that “sometimes compromises have to be made and that the current regulation is a viable compromise.”

While abortion remains a felony in Germany, pregnant women and doctors have impunity if the woman demands the abortion at least three days after having mandatory counsel and if conception happened not more than 12 weeks before. Granting doctors and women impunity for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy has led to around 100,000 abortions being carried out in Germany every year.

The AfD is currently hotly debated among Catholics in Germany. In February, the German Bishops’ Conference published a controversial declaration stating that Christians could not vote for the AfD because they are “right-wing extremists” and allegedly promote “ethnic nationalism.”

On the other hand, the bishops’ conference failed to condemn the left-wing parties of the current German government, who support the killing of the unborn and are considering decriminalizing abortion. The German administration recently moved to restrict pro-life activism in front of abortion facilities and abolished the advertising ban on abortion in 2022.

READ: Germany ends abortion advertising ban on same day US Supreme Court overturns Roe

A video produced by Live Action shows what a first-trimester abortion of an unborn baby looks like.

In the video, Dr. Beverly McMillan, an OB/GYN with 45 years of experience, explains “the development of the pre-born child from the moment of fertilization, when ‘the zygote has its own unique DNA, which determines sex, ethnicity, hair color, eye color, and countless other traits.’”

McMillan notes that “between five and six weeks, when many women first discover they are pregnant, the heartbeat of the embryo can be detected” and that “at 11 weeks, all the vital organs are in place and the fetus can swallow, grasp an object, touch his or her face, sigh, and stretch. At 12 weeks, the fetus has unique fingerprints.”

She explains the process of a dilation and curettage (D&C) abortion as follows:

The suction machine is turned on, and the abortionist slowly rotates the cannula inside the uterus. The fetus is rapidly torn to pieces as it is pulled through the cannula and tubing into a large glass bottle, followed by the placenta. Sometimes smaller embryos are pulled through whole. Occasionally the abortionist must remove the cannula and pull out body parts that have clogged the opening to complete the abortion. Once the abortionist thinks everything has been removed, she will sometimes use a long metal curette to scrape the lining of the uterus to make sure nothing is left behind.

“From there, the abortionist will reassemble the infant’s body to make sure nothing is left behind; if any body parts remain, it can be a life-threatening complication for the mother,” Live Action writer Cassy Fiano-Chesser explains in an article. “The risks of a D&C include damage to maternal organs, lacerations, infection, bleeding, and death. Abortion-related trauma or injury to the cervix can also put future pregnancies at risk.”

The Catholic Church has always taught that abortion is a grave sin, in accordance with the Fifth Commandment: “Though shalt not kill.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception.”

“Since the first century, the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion,” the Catechism reads. “This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.”

Timmerevers is the bishop of the Diocese of Dresden-Meissen and a staunch supporter of the heretical German Synodal Way. He is the chairman of the Commission for Education and Schools of the DBK and said in December 2023 that Catholic schools should become “spaces of recognition for people of all sexual identities.”