The Family Planning charity is pushing for the right to abortion to be enshrined in Luxembourg’s constitution. On 22 September, the Chamber institutions committee will consider the bill on the issue submitted by the Left, which received a positive reaction from the Council of State earlier this year. Planning Familial intends to hold a demonstration outside the Chamber of Deputies to coincide with that date, according to incoming president Fatima Rougi.
Planning Familial has three centres located in the capital, Esch-sur-Alzette, and Ettelbruck respectively, where it offers access to medical information and services linked to sexual education. The non-profit organisation calls itself “neutral”, but Rougi has not hidden her dissatisfaction with the ADR’s political positions, and welcomes the Left’s initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution.
Although the move can be seen as symbolic, it means more, she says. “It is worth securing the right to abortion now before it is threatened.” Rougi points to other countries such as Malta, Poland, and Hungary, where abortion laws have become more restrictive, and says it is important to avoid such a situation repeating itself in the Grand Duchy where certain parties or “conservative men” could question it.
Overturning an existing law is more difficult than adding an article to the constitution, because it requires a two-thirds majority, says Rougi. Other details, such as the limit for when an abortion can be performed, will still be governed by law, and Planning Familial is campaigning for this limit to be increased to 14 weeks from the current 12 weeks. “It doesn’t sound like much”, says Rougi, but it is an important difference particularly for women in precarious situations.
Planning Familial disagrees with the warning issued by Luxembourg’s association of gynaecologists, which said that an increased limit could be abused, for example by parents waiting to find out a baby’s gender before deciding to terminate. But Rougi says this is not the case in reality. “It’s not what our doctors tell us, it’s not what we are seeing on the ground.”
Rougi, who was born in Morocco but has lived in France since she was a year old, says the North African country has little left for women. But although women in Luxembourg have comparatively more rights, she points to the country’s strong Catholic roots and says religion is seldom a friend to women.
Planning Familial is much more than a place of refuge for women seeking a termination. The 40 to 50 staff members advise on access to medical services, offer education on sexual and emotional health, and also proactively campaign to inform the public. The charity is for both men and women.
