France and Belgium: abortion remains an icon of ideological battles

On January 30, at the French National Assembly, a large majority of deputies voted in favor of a bill to enshrine  women’s “guaranteed freedom” to have an abortion in the Constitution. The text still has to be examined by the Senate on February 28. However, it will only be incorporated into the French Constitution if 3/5ths of the members of Congress (Senate and Assembly combined) approve it. 

The bill is particularly opposed by many healthcare professionals, who see the constitutionalization of abortion as a direct threat to their freedom of conscience. In the event of the constitutionalization of abortion, Emmanuel Sapin, Professor of Pediatric and Neonatal Surgery, calls for the right of healthcare professionals to conscientious objection to abortion to be enshrined in the Constitution. In a letter co-signed by numerous healthcare professionals https://www.clausedeconscience.org/, he calls on President Emmanuel Macron to intervene, emphasizing that the inclusion of the conscience clause in the Constitution is all the more important as "this clause has been called into question several times, most recently during the examination of law no. 2022-295 of March 2, 2022 aimed at reinforcing the right to abortion." 

The formula "guaranteed freedom" finally chosen for the bill is in fact a compromise between the "right to abortion" in the first text voted by the assembly, and the "freedom to abort" in the text voted by a more conservative Senate. Nevertheless, a discerning eye, such as that of Senator Philippe Bas (LR), sees in the adjective "guaranteed (freedom)" a clear shift towards "opposable right", and this with regard to any person who would stand in the way of an abortion being carried out, including the care provider by refusing to participate. 

By 2022, a record 234,000 abortions will have been carried out in France, corresponding to 1 abortion for every 3 births, or 16 abortions for every 1,000 women of childbearing age. Associations sympathetic to the distress of pregnant women in difficulty see the constitutionalization of abortion as an ideological measure that would "subject even more women to the inevitability of abortion". Every day for decades," reports the SOS bébé listening service, "we at Alliance VITA have received messages of distress that paint a very different picture." Indeed, 91% of French people believe that abortion "leaves psychological scars that are difficult for women to live with", and three quarters would like "society to do more to help women avoid abortion", according to the IFOP barometer carried out by Alliance VITA in 2020. 

And in Belgium? 

Despite the will of certain parties to urgently extend access to abortion, a vote on a new bill to extend the legal deadline is unlikely before the end of the legislature (June 9). There remains, however, the risk of a parliamentary majority being formed in the wake of the new elections, in the absence of a governmental agreement. 

With this political deadline in mind, two abortion centers in Flanders, LUNA and Dilemma, are campaigning to abolish the reflection period prior to an abortion and extend the abortion period beyond 12 weeks. The number of abortions has been rising since 2020. According to LUNA director Carine Vrancken, an increase of around 10% can be expected for the years 2022-2023. Carine Vrancken points to certain societal factors behind this increase in abortions: "We live in uncertain times, with international conflicts and life becoming increasingly expensive. These aspects have an impact on the question of whether we still want to bring children into the world". 

In a debate (19 min) on the LN24 television channel on January 25, Dr. Chantal Kortmann, a member of Belgium's Abortion Evaluation Commission, pointed out the inconsistency and arbitrariness of the Belgian scientific committee's consensus on extending the abortion deadline to 18 weeks: "For the moment, because we don't yet have the means to save a child at 18 weeks, we're going to say: it's okay to kill it." And Dr. Kortmann repeats: "The fundamental question is: when does human life begin?"