Authors Karen Celis and Gily Coene describe abortion in Belgium:
“In 1990, after a long and salient political struggle, Belgium adopted a law that partially legalized abortion…
Compared to other European countries, Belgium was particularly late to legalize abortion, and it cannot claim to have established the most generous legalization of abortion.…
The 1990 abortion law permits abortions within the first 12 weeks of the pregnancy when it causes a “state of distress” for the pregnant woman…
The law, however, does not define this state of distress and leaves the appreciation of this condition up to the woman who is considering ending her pregnancy.
The law furthermore stipulates compulsory counseling on alternatives to abortion, a six-day waiting period (“period of reflection”), and a “unity of place” of the first counseling and the operation.
After 12 weeks, abortion is only allowed in cases where the pregnancy poses a serious health risk to the woman or in cases where the foetus suffers from a serious and incurable disease. In such situations, the attending doctor – after seeking a second opinion from a colleague – decides whether at least one of these conditions is fulfilled and whether the termination of a pregnancy is legal.”
Karen Celis and Gily Coene “Still a Woman’s Right? Feminist and Other Discourses in Belgium’s Abortion Struggles” Sylvia De Zordo, Joanna Mishtal and Lorena Anton, eds. A Fragmented Landscape: Abortion Governance and Protest Logics in Europe (New York: Berghahn, 2017)
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