Dutch Parliament adopts Proposals on Rising Abortion Rates and the Abolition of the Reflection Period

This week, the Dutch House of Representatives adopted two motions that examine the rise in the number of abortions and the consequences of the abolition of the mandatory reflection period. This is an important step in the right direction. Yet fundamental reform is still lacking and the unborn child remains outlawed.

Parliamentary Majority opens Abortion Figures for Discussion

In recent years, the number of abortions in the Netherlands has risen from 31,000 to almost 40,000 children killed per year. This is a worrying development, which until recently was hardly discussed in politics. Now a parliamentary majority – consisting of PVV, NSC, BBB, CDA, FVD, SGP and ChristenUnie – has passed a motion that will ensure this increase is explicitly included in an early evaluation of the Abortion Act.

Investigation into Reflection Period

In addition, an SGP motion was adopted to investigate the extent to which the abolition of the compulsory reflection period has contributed to the increase in the number of abortions. This is a logical question: the compulsory reflection period offered women the opportunity to reconsider their decision to have their child killed. It is obvious that removing this obligation will lower the threshold for committing abortion.

Resistance from the Abortion Lobby

Despite these hopeful developments, there is still great resistance to any form of control on abortion. A third motion, which called for recording and reporting the reason for each abortion, did not pass. The SGP, BBB, ChristenUnie and FVD voted in favour, but did not receive sufficient support from other parties. This means that there will be no structural insight into why women choose to have an abortion. It is important to note that such a lack of transparency in the medical sector is generally not accepted, certainly not when it involves subsidies.

A Wagging Tail

Pro-abortion organisations such as Rutgers and the Clara Wichmann Foundation reacted strongly to the adopted motions. They speak of a ‘limitation of women's rights’, while the proposals are only aimed at gaining more insight and preventing a further increase in the number of abortions. Moreover, it is not a ‘women's right’. The right to kill unborn children does not exist, not even in our pro-abortion law. In fact, this law recognises its intrinsic evil by including it in the Penal Code.

Also read: Donald Trump deletes Abortion Ban from Party Platform

More needs to be done

Although these motions are a first step in the right direction, there is still much work to be done. The fundamental discussion about the protection of the unborn child remains largely unmentionable in politics. When the subject is broached, it is almost always in relation to the woman who must be able to kill her child and how difficult and distressing the circumstances would be for her. As long as this does not change, and the child to be killed is not the central issue, implementing structural reforms will remain impossible.

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