Dutch Parliament rejects abortion as a human right

Stay up to date with Christian news in Europe? Sign up for CNE's newsletter.

The private members’ motion asked the government to advocate with a “leading group of like-minded countries” to enshrine the right to abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The cabinet was positive about the motion.

On Tuesday, the Animal Rights Party and European Volt also voted in favour of the motion by Social Liberal D66, the Socialist SP, Liberal VVD and Social-Democratic GroenLinks-PvdA. Combined, these groups account for 68 of the 150 seats.

The Reformed SGP had prepared a motion with a contrary message but did not bring that to a vote, as the Reformatorisch Dagblad reports. That motion, by SGP, Christian Union and Forum for Democracy, asks the government to actively oppose efforts in the EU to include abortion as a human right in European treaties. This proposal, which has a chance of success, will be put to a vote next Tuesday, an SGP spokesperson said.

The House did accept a motion by SP, D66 and GL-PvdA on Tuesday asking the government to make care for victims of sexual violence a standard part of the basic emergency assistance provided by the Netherlands, including at least “abortion care” and a few other things. Only PVV, SGP and CU voted against; FVD was absent.

A motion by CU and SGP to make reducing the number of abortions an explicit goal of Dutch foreign policy was rejected. The same applied to a motion by FVD and SGP calling on the government to reconsider the abortion deadline. The motions had been tabled during a debate on a D66 paper entitled “Access to abortion is a human right” over a fortnight ago.

Analysis: Will abortion enter into the treaties after the EP vote?

12-04-2024

The European Parliament did vote for abortion as a basic right in the European treaties, in April 2024. The French parliament even decided to include it in the Constitution.

The House narrowly accepted an SGP motion on prenatal screenings on Tuesday. The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities expressed concern last year about “the widespread use” of non-invasive prenatal testing in the Netherlands to detect foetal abnormalities, “which may lead to the termination of pregnancies”. The committee stated that this reflects “underlying discriminatory attitudes towards persons with disabilities”.

Based on the committee’s recommendations, the motion asked the government to consider what actions could be taken to counter “the potentially stigmatising effect” of prenatal screenings. There were 76 votes for this resolution.