Free to do what you want with your own body

In Belgium, abortion has been legally regulated since 1990 – but that didn’t happen without fierce debate. VUB has played, and continues to play, a leading role in the liberalisation of abortion legislation. I’m not an academic myself – I work from the practical, frontline experience of an abortion centre, from the reality of those who walk through our doors. From that standpoint, I find it increasingly strange that decisions about abortion – or indeed euthanasia – are made by politicians. During the last government formation talks, both topics were even used as political bargaining chips. Abortion, like other medical procedures, should be regulated by the healthcare system without needing additional legal conditions. Politicians may be elected representatives, but that doesn’t give them the right to determine whether someone has the freedom to make choices about their own body.

Of course, abortion is an ethically significant issue. At the same time, our experience shows that women never request an abortion lightly. The later in a pregnancy they make that decision, the more serious and well-considered their reasons tend to be. There's much debate about how far into a pregnancy abortion should remain legal. At present, it’s only permitted within the first 12 weeks after conception – that’s 14 weeks after the last menstrual period. In the Netherlands, by contrast, the limit is 22 weeks.

Then there’s the patronising and humiliating mandatory waiting period between the initial consultation and the procedure itself. What people fail to realise is that the decision-making process doesn’t start at that first consultation – by the time someone visits an abortion clinic, they’ve usually spent a long time thinking it through. The main opposition to extending the legal time limit for abortion still comes, as ever, from the Catholic camp. There’s also significant resistance from conservative-right circles. I believe this opposition isn’t so much about the waiting period, but about the idea of extending the time limit. There’s a deeply entrenched belief that abortion after 12 weeks is no longer ethically justifiable. 
 

“In the end, abortion isn’t all that unusual – one in five women will experience it in their lifetime” 

An expert committee has now reached consensus that abortion should be allowed up to 18 weeks of pregnancy. This might sound extreme, but in my view, abortion should remain an option until birth – because until a baby is born, it doesn’t really exist. For me, the 'V' in VUB represents the freedom to say that, without being demonised or fearing for my job.

A few weeks ago, a woman came to the centre – she was undocumented, living in Belgium illegally, with no hope of improving her circumstances. She was 28 weeks pregnant. Sadly, we couldn’t help her within the bounds of the law, and now a child will soon be born into a life with virtually no opportunities. I get the sense that most women can now find their way to abortion centres more easily – abortion has become a more openly discussed subject in society. We’re also seeing more women being referred to us by their GPs or gynaecologists, which is a really positive development. There’s now broad consensus that everyone should have access to safe, high-quality abortion care.

But we’re not there yet. It’s still rare to hear a woman say, “I’ve had an abortion.” That part remains taboo. I hope the stigma around abortion will soon fade. After all, abortion is far from rare – one in five women will go through it at some point in their lives. VUB should be proud of its pioneering role in this area, and it’s something that gives me real strength and purpose in the work we do at our centre.*

*This is a machine translation. We apologise for any inaccuracies.