For fear that this decision by the United States would snowball in Europe and to avoid experiencing a setback on this right, environmentalists wanted to follow the path opened by France, the first country in the world to recognize it in its Constitution the freedom to resort to abortion. Remember that in Belgium, voluntary termination of pregnancy has been decriminalized since 2018 but is only authorized under certain conditions.
Ecolo-Groen’s proposal was, however, rejected at the end of December by the Chamber’s Legal Affairs and Parliamentary Documentation department for procedural reasons. In summary, the modification of article 22 cannot be made because, when the declaration of revision of the Constitution was adopted, that was not the objective.
Procedures
Let’s go into more detail. For abortion to be protected by the Constitution, Ecolo-Groen asked to modify article 22 which states: “Everyone has the right to respect for their private and family life, except in the cases and conditions established by law”. The Greens asked to add the sentence: “This right includes the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy.”
Words from the Pope regarding abortion: No, our doctors are not “sicarios”!
To revise an article of the Constitution, a strict procedure must be followed. Each revision must respect the “directives” given by the “pre-constituent”, the political power which decides which articles can be modified and in what direction. These directions are given before the dissolution of the Chamber, i.e. before the elections. A modification made after the elections can only be made if it is linked to the provisions planned before the election. This was not the case with Ecolo-Groen’s proposal, in the eyes of the Chamber’s legal service.
When contacted, the Greens told us that they will work on modifying their text in order to make the proposal admissible. There is no question of them abandoning this project.
