Nearly 94,000 people want abortion stricken from the Dutch criminal code
A citizens' initiative was delivered to the Tweede Kamer on Tuesday calling on politicians to remove abortion from the Wetboek van Strafrecht, the Dutch criminal code. Nearly 94,000 people signed the petition presented by broadcaster BNNVARA and the Humanistisch Verbond, also known as the Humanistic Association. The number of people who signed is more than double what is needed to put the subject on the agenda of the Tweede Kamer.
BNNVARA presenter Dzifa Kusenuh presented a banner in the Tweede Kamer with the number of signatures collected for the initiative to the Committee for Petitions and Citizens' Initiatives. Kusenuh believes abortion should be removed from the criminal code because it still contributes to the taboo surrounding the subject.
She also thinks it is important that abortion is no longer considered a criminal offense because she is concerned about the anti-abortion lobby. "You can see that in the Netherlands the anti-abortion lobby is also getting better organized and also cooperates a great deal with other countries in Europe such as Poland and Hungary, where abortion legislation has recently been amended. So I think we should be on our guard," she said on radio program De Nieuws BV.
The committee will check whether the initiative meets all conditions, including the number of valid signatures. If the citizens' initiative receives at least 40,000 signatures, the subject is supposed to be discussed in the Tweede Kamer. BNNVARA is cooperating with the citizens' initiative via its own program, Spuiten en Slikken.
Article 296 of the Wetboek van Strafrecht states that people who give a woman treatment to terminate a pregnancy can receive up to 4.5 years in prison or a fine of up to 22,500 euros. This rule does not apply to doctors in hospitals or licensed abortion clinics. The Termination of Pregnancy Act states that an abortion is permitted up to the 24th week of pregnancy.
At the moment there is also a mandatory reflection period of five days before the abortion can be performed, but that rule will expire on 1 January 2023.
