ChristenUnie wants five-day mandatory reflection period before abortion, even in case of rape

The Christian conservative party ChristenUnie wants to keep a five-day mandatory reflection period for women before being allowed to go to an abortion clinic, even in the case of rape. Liberal party D66, which has just submitted a proposal to abolish the reflection period altogether, reacts furiously.

According to the number 4 on the candidate list of the ChristenUnie, Don Ceder, every new life is worthy of protection. No exception should be made for raped women, he says in an interview on YouTube.

"Even in the case of rape, however painful that may be, we would say that the reflection period is the regulation. Especially because it is not only about the woman. It is also about the protection of life. And that is what the ChristenUnie stands for, whether it is at the beginning or at the end. You have to handle that carefully," said Ceder in the interview.

The party leader of the ChristenUnie in Amsterdam argues that it is "not careful" of women to go to an abortion clinic - when they may be emotional or put under pressure - to "make a decision of which we do not know how it came about." "Then it is an appropriate measure to at least observe a cooling-off period of a few days," asserts Ceder. 

Furious

D66 Member of Parliament Pia Dijkstra reacts furiously to Ceder's statements. "This makes me furious. The number 4 of the ChristenUnie who says: forced waiting and thinking if a woman wants an abortion after rape. So I have no idea what this means for her. True face of the ChristenUnie. Extremely indecent and disrespectful to women. Unacceptable," she wrote in a Tweet.

The ChristenUnie recently voted against an adopted motion by the green party GroenLinks and the labor party PvdA to abolish the lightened reflection period for abortion, which is now five days. PvdA Member of Parliament Attje Kuiken said that "it is not the first time that the ChristenUnie has come up with these kinds of medieval proposals, but this again frightens me. Women who are victims of rape deserve our full support, not this terribly unnecessary reflection time. Women can very well decide for themselves about an abortion. Fortunately, a majority in the House finally support our proposal to scrap the mandatory reflection period for all women."

According to the Humanist Union, the ChristenUnie's views on abortion undermine "any form of control and agency" and the party propagates "arch-conservative views." Director Christa Compas said that "when it comes to life, love and death, most parties are very united. They are for freedom of choice when it comes to abortion and completed life and they stand for the right to be yourself as an LGBTQ+ person."