Liechtenstein’s Catholic prince vows to defend unborn life against abortion bill

(LifeSiteNews) — Liechtenstein’s 25-seat Parliament has voted to legalize abortion by the narrowest of margins – but the ruling prince of the tiny, landlocked country has vowed to veto the citizen’s initiative.

On September 2, the Landtag voted to approve the “Fristenlösung für Liechtenstein,” 13 to 12.  The initiative decriminalizes abortion up until 12 weeks, eliminates the ban on providing information about abortion, and funds terminations under health insurance.

But there is a catch. In Liechtenstein, the ruling prince – Hereditary Prince Alois – has a formal role in passing legislation. After parliamentary approval, a law must be sanctioned by the ruling prince before it becomes law. The Constitution states that if the ruling prince does not sanction it within six months, the law does not come into effect.

As Article 65 of the Constitution states: “For any law to be valid, in addition to the consent of the Landtag (Parliament), the sanction of the sovereign, the countersignature of the responsible head of government or his deputy, and publication in the Official Gazette are required. If the sovereign’s sanction is not given within six months, it is deemed refused.”

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Prince Alois has made no public comments since the Landtag approved the abortion initiative. But as abortion activist Gabriella Alvarez-Hummel noted grimly in the Guardian, he already committed to vetoing any abortion proposal in June. The last time Prince Alois threatened to exercise the royal veto was in 2011, ahead of a previous abortion initiative; the referendum then failed. A subsequent referendum to limit the royal veto in 2013 also failed.

“Supporters of the bill say there is widespread backing in Liechtenstein to legalise abortion,” the BBC reported. “However, MPs rejected a separate proposal to put the issue to a public vote. Almost 80% of Liechtenstein’s population of about 41,000 people belong to the Roman Catholic Church which is opposed to abortion.”

“The main reason [for the prince’s opposition] is that the central legal principle of the protection of life is not sufficiently upheld in time-limit regulations,” the communications department of the Princely House told the Keystone-SDA news agency on September 3.

“With the time-limit regulation, the state effectively withdraws from its responsibility to recognize the right to protection of unborn life during that period,” Prince Alois stated in June. He added: “On such fundamental issues as the protection of life, a head of state should take a clear stance and also bear responsibility – even if that is the more difficult path.”