Crown Prince of Liechtenstein says he would veto effort to legalize abortion

(LifeSiteNews) — The Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein has announced he would veto an attempt to legalize abortion in the country.

In February, a committee in the Principality of Liechtenstein launched a popular initiative to decriminalize abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The initiators have also demanded that the ban on providing information on abortion be lifted and that health insurance covers the cost of an abortion.

Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein announced that he would veto it once the Landtag, the Parliament of the principality, passed a law decriminalizing abortion.

In an interview with Liechtensteiner Vaterland on Wednesday, he was asked whether he would exercise his veto power should the people vote in favor of the pro-abortion initiative.

“Yes,” he said.

He had “come to the conclusion that time-limit regulations are fundamentally unsuitable for our country because, under such regulations, the central legal principle of protecting life is not sufficiently upheld.” The regulation of abortion in Liechtenstein must continue to be “based on a criminal law framework with a system of medical indications.” He indicated that abortion should only be permitted under certain circumstances, such as when the mother’s life is in danger.

Crown Prince Alois said he is convinced that the protection of unborn life must be “explicitly visible” – to the same extent at all times, regardless of the age of the child. “With the time-limit regulation, the state effectively withdraws from its responsibility to grant unborn life a right to protection during the specified period,” he pointed out. In his view, this is “not right.”

He emphasized that his goal is “a fundamental commitment to the protection of life and not a ban on abortion.”

Abortion is currently allowed in Liechtenstein in cases of rape, when the woman is underage, and when the mother’s life is in danger. Since an amendment was made in 2015, women who have an abortion performed by a doctor remain exempt from punishment, while the doctor could be punished under criminal law with a prison sentence of up to one year.

Crown Prince Alois, who has served as regent since 2004, has already announced in 2011 that he would veto any attempt to legalize abortion. The popular initiative failed in 2012 because 52 percent of voters rejected it at the time.

If the prince were to veto the bill, there would be no legal recourse, meaning that the abortion law would remain as it is and not be amended.