"In the Claws of § 218": The Visual Campaign to Legalize Abortion during the Weimar Republic in the Communist Press

abstract: This article examines the visual campaign to legalize abortion in illustrated magazines produced by the communist Willi Münzenberg, during the late Weimar Republic. Magazines like Eulenspiegel, Arbeiter Illustrierte Zeitung, Der Mahnruf , and Magazine für Alle provided visual evidence of struggling working-class mothers and argued that the modern woman, alongside economic emancipation, should model the figure of the "Soviet Woman," who had access to birth control and abortion. The communist press also created a counter-narrative to the commercialized, consumer driven Neue Frau , contrasting the "luxury" of the bourgeoise to the poverty and struggle of working-class women. The illustrated press, in its speed, broad audience, and accessibility, was an ideal space to galvanize political support to repeal § 218.