Last week, the issue already sparked political tension when the House threatened to approve the bill. CD&V chairman Joachim Coens threatened to stop his participation in the formation negotiations. According to Coens, it was not agreed that there would be a vote. The breach of trust between him and Bouchez could barely be repaired by having the bill amended again and sending it to the Council of State for a third time.
The bill would make it possible to interrupt a pregnancy after 18 weeks; now that is still 12 weeks. The mandatory reflection period would also be reduced from 6 to 2 days. Abortion would also be completely removed from criminal law. That is a bridge too far for CD&V, N-VA and Vlaams Belang.
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