Contract killers? This cannot go unchallenged

According to the Pope, doctors who carry out abortions are nothing less than “contract killers”. Pope Francis made this clear during his recent visit to Belgium. In an opinion piece published by De Standaard on 3 October, VUB rector Jan Danckaert expressed his outrage: “With this statement, Pope Francis not only insults the doctors who perform abortions but also Belgium and its people.” The piece was co-signed by several notable figures: VUB emeritus professor Jean-Jacques Amy, VUB Dilemma gynaecologist Anne Verougstraete, UZ Brussel CEO Marc Noppen, Koen Putman, dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, and Nausikäa Martens, coordinator of VUB Dilemma.

For Pope Francis, doctors who perform abortions are nothing less than contract killers. Now, we consider freedom of speech to be sacred, and the Holy See is entitled to that right as well. But when one makes defamatory accusations, that no longer constitutes free speech but becomes an act of spreading hate. Especially when the accusation is that you are a murderer – that thousands of doctors who carry out their job with honour and conscience, serving humanity and their patients, are murderers.

As the academic community of the VUB, which has actively fought for the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy since the 1970s, alongside our sister university ULB, we believe that the Pope’s statement cannot go uncontested. The VUB and UZ Brussel are calling on the Belgian government to hold the papal nuncio in Brussels accountable. The sharp rebuke that prime minister Alexander De Croo directed at the Pope and his Church – widely echoed internationally – has not deterred Pope Francis, who doubled down on his comments on his return to Rome.

His statement insults not only the doctors who perform abortions but also Belgium and its people. These doctors operate within a legal framework that guarantees the right to abortion and outlines the conditions under which it is permitted. Thanks to this legal framework, doctors can carry out abortions under optimal conditions. It is worth noting that there is a scientific consensus in our country regarding the timeframe in which abortions should be allowed, which should be extended. Last month, proposals to relax abortion laws were unfortunately – and hopefully only temporarily – blocked in parliament.

“As important as the right to free speech is, the right to self-determination is just as crucial. Abortion is fundamentally about self-determination”

Belgium’s first law enabling abortion nearly collapsed in 1990 at Laken Palace. It was only by temporarily removing the deeply Catholic King Baudouin from power – a constitutional manoeuvre – that the law was passed. Without this law, the lives of thousands of women (and likely their children) in our country would have been bleak, even unliveable. As important as the right to free speech is, the right to self-determination is just as crucial. Abortion is fundamentally about self-determination.

Every woman must have the right to make decisions about her own body and future. And of course, terminating a pregnancy can involve ethical dilemmas. The balance between a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and the protection of the foetus must be carefully maintained. More than 30 years after the Lallemand-Michielsen law enabling abortion was passed, it is time to relax the legislation. Experts from seven universities have reached this consensus after careful deliberation. But for Pope Francis, such a relaxation would mean nothing but “more murder”. He referred to the 1990 abortion law as a “murderous law”. As the late King Baudouin attempted to prevent it, the Pope believes he deserves to be beatified.

It is outrageous that a foreign head of state – because that is what Pope Francis is – presumes the right to attack the law of another, democratic country and to accuse doctors who implement this law of murder. A head of state who makes such vile statements against democratic laws is surely causing a diplomatic incident.

It is clear that, in the eyes of the Church and its leaders, women still occupy a subordinate role. The right to abortion is about nothing more than a woman’s right to make autonomous decisions about her own body.

By prohibiting abortion, thousands of women die each year around the world. Who bears responsibility for all these lost lives? If only there were more “contract killers”, wherever they are needed.

Does Jorge Mario Bergoglio not know what goes on in Latin America? Maternal mortality has plummeted there since women have been able to obtain abortion pills via the internet. Catholic women, like women of other faiths, terminate pregnancies because they know they cannot be good mothers at that time in their lives. Abortion is about responsible parenthood.

We are proud that our university unconditionally supported women and doctors when abortion was illegal, and we are especially happy and grateful – having fought for it – that it is now fully legal.