Proposed changes to the law on abortion in Belgium, to make it available on-demand up to 18 weeks, can go ahead following a ruling by the country’s Council of State. However, it raises concerns that a law against protests and vigils outside abortion facilities might infringe freedom of protest.

Currently, abortion can take place for any reason up to 12 weeks, like in Ireland. The new system will also cut the obligatory cooling-off period before an abortion can take place from six days to two, and abortion is removed entirely from the criminal code, meaning no-one will ever be imprisoned for performing an abortion.

The Council of State is the body that scrutinises all government activity, from municipal level to federal. It also has the function of examining proposed legislation to give an opinion on its overall legality before it is passed by parliament.

In this case, the amendments to the law on abortion have been approved by the parliament’s justice committee, which the Council of State says has “broad room for manoeuvre” in the matter.

The Council of State did raise an objection to a provision that punishes anyone who, “physically or in any other way,” prevents a women from having access to an establishment where abortions take place. The Council said it was not precise enough, and ran the risk of infringing on freedom of speech as long as “any other way” was not more closely defined.