The New Abortion Law in Belgium Leads to a Virtually Full Right to the Termination of Pregnancy in the First 12 Weeks

In 1990, the termination of pregnancy became possible in Belgium under certain conditions.Up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, the explicit request and will of the woman and the emergency situation were the most important conditions for being allowed to have an abortion.After 12 weeks, the intervention was only permitted when the pregnancy had threatened the life of the woman or the child was suffering from a serious and incurable disease.These Belgian legislation was thoroughly reformed in 2018.This article examines whether these recent legislative changes preserve the original objectives of the abortion legislation, i.e., to ensure a balance between the protection of unborn life and the provision of assistance to the pregnant woman in need.The analysis is done by testing the recent changes in the law against these two objectives.The removal of the condition of the emergency situation, the introduction of an exception to the cooling-off period, the compulsory referral of the doctor in the event of a refusal to carry out the intervention herself, the punishment of persons who physically try to prevent a woman from entering a care institution and a limited extension of the pregnancy period have led to a quasi-full right to abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.The precarious balance in the original 1990 law between the woman's need and right to self-determination and the protection of unborn life is completely abandoned in the early period of pregnancy.After these 12 weeks, however, medical conditions such as a serious and incurable disease of the unborn life or when the pregnancy threatens the life of the woman remain in force.