Katja Kipping, deputy chair of the Left Party, told Spiegel Online, "Poverty is overshadowing people's love lives." She added the indigent women are too poor to even afford to buy a birth control pill or IUD.
Kipping suggested the inclusion of prescription birth control pills or other forms of contraception in the Hartz IV welfare package which budgets $19.34 (13.17 euro) monthly for medicine and doctor's fees. A dozen condoms would cost between $4 to $9 (3 to 6 euro).
The Left Wing officer also pushed for higher welfare allowances since the present amount is not enough for birth control devices or bus fares.
The party, established on June 2007 from the coalition of The Left Party, PDS and the Labor and Social Justice - The Electoral Alternative, is getting known for its radical solutions to address the nation's problems. It includes tax hikes for large firms, an end to privatization and the introduction of a minimum wage.
