One of Luxembourg's leading constitutional law experts has publicly endorsed enshrining the freedom of abortion in the Grand Duchy's constitution, calling the move "certainly justified" to prevent a future rollback of the right.

Constitutional law expert Luc Heuschling has stated that enshrining the freedom of abortion in Luxembourg's constitution is "certainly justified."

In a Tuesday interview with our colleagues from RTL Radio, the University of Luxembourg professor explained that the move aims to protect existing legislation from being rolled back in the future. By including it in the constitution, he stated, the value of a woman's right to request an abortion would be permanently anchored.

Debating a time limit in the text

Professor Heuschling also raised the question of whether a specific time limit for the procedure should be written into the constitutional text. He noted that current law permits abortion up to the end of the 12th week after conception, or up to the end of the 14th week from the first day of the last menstrual period. His concern, however, is that without a constitutional timeframe, future legislation could impose stricter conditions.

If no time limit were specified in the constitution, legislation could impose "very strict conditions" and, for example, reduce the period to a very short time, such as four weeks, Heuschling warned. To best "cement" the right, he argued, as much detail as possible should be included in the constitution itself.

Why 'freedom' over 'right'

The expert also clarified the strategic reasoning behind using the term "freedom" of abortion instead of a "right" to abortion. He believes "freedom" offers stronger protection for doctors' freedom of conscience. Under this framework, women have the freedom to request the procedure, while doctors retain the freedom to decline to perform it.

Heuschling described the freedom of abortion as part of the modern value system, "whether one approves of it or not." In a similar vein, he expressed regret that euthanasia was not also included in the new constitution.

Heuschling pointed out that the new constitution is a recent document from 2023 and is already likely to be amended in 2025. Any such change requires a two-thirds majority vote in the Chamber of Deputies.