For the second time in two weeks, a majority has emerged in the House of Representatives to amend the Abortion Act. After it became clear last week that a large majority of the House of Representatives wants to abolish the mandatory statutory cooling-off period of five days, there also seems to be sufficient support for the proposal by GroenLinks, PvdA, D66 and VVD to also provide the abortion pill via the general practitioner. At the moment, an abortion, even if it can be done medically within nine weeks with the abortion pill, can only take place in a licensed abortion clinic or hospital.
The parties that submitted the proposal say that the amendment to the law will increase the accessibility and accessibility of abortion care. “The GP is someone who knows a woman, close to home, for some women the abortion clinic is instinctively a step too far,” said D66 member Wieke Paulusma. “The current offer is not suitable and sufficient for all women.” GroenLinks MP Lisa Westerveld thinks it is positive that the freedom of choice of women is being increased. “Women indicate that they need this, so this is how abortion care is improved.” She emphasized that GPs themselves have also said that they are able and willing to provide this treatment.
Chamber majority in sight
Also read: Abortion advocates celebrate ‘big step forward’, but opposition is also growing
The proposal can almost certainly count on a majority: initiators GroenLinks, PvdA, D66 and VVD together already have 75 seats, although voting in many groups is a free issue and MPs are therefore allowed to deviate from the party position. The Party for the Animals, Volt and Bij1 also previously spoke out in favor of the abortion pill at the GP. It is not yet entirely certain how large the majority will be.
Parties such as the SP and the PVV do not reject it, but they still had many critical questions in the parliamentary debate. SP member Maarten Hijink does not know whether it is possible in practice for general practitioners to meet the same due care criteria as abortion doctors in clinics. For example, a doctor should always take extensive time for a conversation to check whether a woman is not subject to possible doubt or coercion from family members. “Can a GP, who is already under so much work pressure, be expected to have the same sharpness, time and space as in a clinic?”, Hijink wondered. General practitioners can follow training for this and are not obliged to offer abortion treatment.
Some parties fear that an unintended consequence of the amendment of the law may be that abortion clinics receive fewer treatments due to competition from general practitioners and as a result run into financial difficulties or have to close. The SP and the PvdA also want to know from Minister Ernst Kuipers (Public Health, D66) how he is going to prevent this. “Finance should not become a barrier to self-determination,” said PvdA spokesman Attje Kuiken.
The Christian parties in particular have objections to the proposal. SGP MP Chris Stoffer fears that the threshold to abortion will be lowered because abortion is “normalized” as a regular treatment at the general practitioner.
CU fears lower threshold
The ChristenUnie is also afraid that the combination of the proposal for the abortion pill and the abolition of the mandatory reflection period could lower the threshold for choosing to have an abortion. In other countries where the abortion pill has been introduced, such as France and Sweden, the number of abortions has not increased or even decreased slightly.
It is striking that the CDA, always critical when it comes to abortion, does not reject the proposal in advance. MP Hilde Palland wants assurances from the initiators that “the objective is not that abortion can be easier and faster and that we will not lose quality”.
Initiators Corinne Ellemeet (GroenLinks), Lilianne Ploumen (PvdA), Jan Paternotte (D66) and Ockje Tellegen (VVD) will answer the House shortly. Parliament will vote jointly and severally this Thursday on the abolition of the statutory reflection period.
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