By 13 votes to 12, the Liechtenstein Parliament has voted in favour of liberalising abortion laws – and has adopted a popular initiative on the so-called ‘time-limit solution’. Until now, abortions in Liechtenstein have been virtually completely banned: the only exception is for abortions performed by doctors where the pregnant woman’s health is at serious risk.
However, the law is unlikely to come into force.
This is because the Prince of Liechtenstein must approve the substance of all legislative decisions – and Crown Prince Alois, who has been entrusted with the affairs of government since 2004, has already announced his intention to exercise his right of veto.
“I have come to the conclusion that time-limit regulations are fundamentally unsuitable for our country, because such regulations do not sufficiently uphold the central legal principle of the protection of life,” said Alois in June in an interview with Liechtenstein’s daily newspaper, the Liechtensteiner Vaterland.
Should the initiative come into force, abortions in Liechtenstein would no longer be a criminal offence, amongst other things, if they were “carried out within the first three months of pregnancy following prior medical consultation with a doctor”.
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