A bill to reform Belgium’s abortion laws, particularly by extending the legal period for abortion and decriminalising it, was tabled by two Ecolo-Green (EELV) MPs on Thursday.
Séverine de Laveleye (Ecolo, EELV) and Eva Platteau (Groen, EELV) presented this project on the occasion of the International Day for Free and Safe Abortion on Thursday.
In their tabled bill, the two MPs seek to extend the period in which abortion can be performed from 12 to 18 weeks and to abolish the six-day waiting period before an abortion can be performed.
The two are also calling for abortion to be explicitly registered as health care, which would mean decriminalising the act if it takes place after 12 weeks.
These proposals are based on a report of 25 recommendations published six months ago by a committee of experts commissioned by the Vivaldi parliamentarians.
“Under no circumstances can this report remain in a drawer. We have therefore translated these recommendations into legislation to strengthen women’s right to control their bodies and their own health,” said de Laveleye.
Several Belgian sexual and reproductive rights organisations called for abortion law reform along similar lines that day.
In a press release on Thursday, Médecins du Monde Belgium reiterated “the urgent need to reform the law on abortion for the most vulnerable women”.
Like the bill, the association favours extending the abortion period to 18 weeks and abolishing the mandatory six-day reflection period for women wishing to terminate a pregnancy.
It also advocates raising women’s awareness and “simplifying access to abortion and harmonising the procedure”.
The call has been echoed by the Fédération Laïque de Centres de Planning Familial (FLCPF), which insists on decriminalising abortion.
“Although abortion has been authorised subject to several conditions for over 30 years, this right is neither fully effective nor completely decriminalised”, the FLCPF said.
For the bill to become law, the seven parties in the coalition government must agree on the text.
But the social-liberal party DéFI has already expressed opposition.
“The Vivaldi is based on a total error, which states that this law can only be voted on if there is agreement in all seven parties. But the CD&V has blocked the issue from the outset”, it said.
A similar attempt to reform the country’s abortion laws by proposing to extend the legal duration of abortion, tabled by the Socialist Party (S&D) and co-signed by MEPs from eight parties, failed in April.
The New Flemish Alliance (NV-A, European Conservatives and Reformists) and Vlaams Belang (Identity and Democracy) opposed the bill, as did the Christian Democrats and Flemish Party (CD&V, European People’s Party), part of the ruling coalition.
The CD&V accepted the idea of an extension but proposed a limit of 14 weeks, except in cases of rape or incest. As for the mandatory waiting period, the CD&V wanted to increase it to 48 hours but refused to abolish it.
(Nina Chabot | Euractiv.com)
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