Prince Albert II of Monaco has declined to sign a law legalising abortion in the tiny principality, thus preventing the practice from acquiring legal validity.
On November 26, Monaco’s Government said members had officially abandoned the legislative proposal.
Previously, in his traditional interview for Monaco’s National Day (November 18) with local newspaper Monaco-Matin, Albert had informed his subjects that he had decided not to sign the bill.
“I understand how sensitive this subject is, the emotion it can bring up,” he said. “The current framework respects who we [Monegasques] are in light of the place that the Catholic religion holds in our country.”
The law had been passed by Monaco’s National Council with a 19 to 2 majority in May and had been waiting for the Prince to sign since.
Under Monaco’s 1962 Constitution, a bill passed with almost unanimous support does not automatically become law unless the Prince formally approves it,. That paves the way for the law to be published in the official Journal de Monaco, thus making it enforceable.
Minister of State Christophe Mirmand, Monaco’s head of government, explained the decision to abandon the proposal, echoing Albert’s words: “It is this Catholic identity that has shaped the history of the Principality since the 13th century.
“This close and essential link to Monaco and its princes is fundamental. It has contributed powerfully to the advent and permanence of our sovereignty for seven centuries,” he said.
“Its founding principles were enshrined in the Constitution in 1962. This religious, even spiritual, dimension is not a secondary factor that can be removed with the stroke of a pen.”
Mirmand continued: “In these times of upheaval, it provides a depth that we must be aware of and protect. This spirituality is also fundamental to our collective balance. Between the rights of each individual and the greater values that unite us and in whose name we act.”
Monaco’s abortion laws will remain unchanged and it is therefore technically illegal in state of 40,000 people.
Women who have an abortion, though, have since 2019 not had to fear criminal prosecution. Providers of abortions, conversely, still face hefty fines.
The proposed law had aimed to legalise abortions up to the 12th week of pregnancy and lower the age up to which parental consent was necessary for the procedure from 18 to 15 years.
