Image: Georges-Louis Bouchez
The law on abortion in Belgium was passed in 1990 and has not been changed since.
Last week, the Pope visited Belgium and announced his opinion that abortion providers are “hired killers”. This created a lot of public debate, and there was a public demonstration by supporters of abortion rights last weekend to protest against his comments.
One important response came from Georges-Louis Bouchez, Belgian Senator and leader of the Mouvement Réformateur (MR): “Religion, whatever it may be, has no place in the conduct of the State.” He said he was not aware of the details of the Pope’s visit in advance. However, he insisted several times that: “The Pope remains solely responsible for his remarks.… He is the one who takes responsibility for the debate that he creates, it is not the government’s fault after all.”
“The Pope’s remarks on abortion were also an opportunity to revisit the MR’s position on this issue. The extension of the period during which abortion is authorized to be performed in Belgium is once again at the center of the debates. The parties currently negotiating at the federal level, including the MR, have decided to reject all the texts and put this issue on ice.
“We are freezing all the votes, because we are negotiating a government. It is not this issue in particular,” he said. He also said that within the MR, there will be freedom of vote, and that he himself will be supporting the extension to 18 weeks.” How the other parties vote when the time comes, is not given, however.
SOURCE: RTBF, by DV Ossel, 30 September 2024. Photo: https://www.facebook.com/glbouchez/photos/