The amendment to the abortion law was discussed at the meeting of the core cabinet on Friday. Not everyone was pleased with the way of communicating of Minister of Justice Annelies Verlinden (CD&V). According to De Tijd, Deputy Prime Minister Frank Vandenbroucke has warned that he cannot stop his party’s MPs from voting freely if there is no broader deal on the ethical issues.
Journalist at HLN
The minister announced her proposal to amend that law through the media last weekend. This means an extension of the period during which abortion is permitted from 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy. That is shorter than the 18 weeks that a committee of experts agreed on during the previous legislature. There are also parties within the majority that want to go up to 18 weeks, but Minister Verlinden only wants to leave that option open for rape victims.
But during the same question period, CD&V faction leader Nawal Farih explicitly reinforced her party’s position and reminded the Prime Minister of “the agreements” that were made about this during the formation of the government.
The file will return to Parliament next week. The opposition has already announced that it will interpellate Minister Verlinden. But afterwards there is a proposal from the opposition for a vote in the Justice Committee on extending the period to 18 weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Vandenbroucke has warned in essence that if a deal on all ethical files is not quickly reached within the core cabinet, he cannot stop his fellow party members from voting freely. De Tijd writes this and the news is confirmed to Belga. Such a rotating majority would put the government under particularly heavy pressure.