Stefaan Van Hecke, the parliamentary faction leader for Groen, issued a sharp critique of the ruling coalition’s political maneuvering. He argued that the government prioritized political survival over women’s healthcare needs. « The wrinkles within the government may now have been ironed out, but women who need vital care are once again left out in the cold, » Van Hecke stated.
According to Groen, it is an open secret that the coalition parties have already established an unofficial agreement to rubber-stamp the restrictive CD&V proposal. « In practice, this means that the government parties, under pressure from CD&V, are imposing conservative ethics on the entire society. The question now is what bar will also be set for those other ethical dossiers, » Van Hecke warned.
A 14-Week Compromise Disregarding Scientific Consensus
The abortion debate has intensified in recent weeks, exposing deep ideological rifts. A clear majority in the Belgian parliament supports extending the legal abortion window to 18 weeks and completely abolishing the mandatory waiting period, a position strongly backed by medical and scientific experts. However, the Christian-democratic CD&V party refused to concede beyond 14 weeks, while insisting on retaining a 2-day reflection period.
To break the deadlock, the government chose to tie the abortion issue to an updated roster of other ethical files to be presented by Minister Annelies Verlinden. Van Hecke predicts this delay will yield poor results: « Again the decision is made to postpone it, only to end up with an adjustment to only 14 weeks in December. The outcome will be the same: women in need of care will be abandoned. »
Protecting Individual Choice Without Minority Vetoes
While Van Hecke emphasized his utmost respect for individual ethical and personal beliefs on sensitive matters like pregnancy termination, he insisted that private convictions should not dictate public health policy.
« Just because you give one woman the right to choose an abortion up to 18 weeks, does not mean that another is forced to do so, » Van Hecke concluded. « That is precisely why it is such a shame that the ethics of a minority now block everything and deny women important care. Anyone who makes the difficult decision to terminate a pregnancy should receive the necessary care in their own country, period. »
