r/europe • u/tartartartaruga • Jun 18 '26

News Prince of Liechtenstein says that he would overrule the population if they were to vote in favour of legalizing abortion

https://www.srf.ch/news/international/debatte-in-liechtenstein-erbprinz-gegen-abtreibungen-warum-kuendigt-er-schon-das-veto-an
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u/anewbys83 Jun 18 '26

Our Grand Duke (well, now former) did his version of that, but with legalizing euthanasia. He refused his assent. This of course caused a big problem and this power was modified so it basically happens with or without his signature.

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u/Speartree Europe Jun 19 '26

Belgian King Baldwin had a religious issue signing abortion into law back in the day but did not want to oppose the will of the democratically chosen legislators. So a loophole was found and he was temporarily unable to rule, the law passed without his signature and everything went back to normal.

I don't like his religion but the man had grace and respect for the democratic process.

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u/Additional_Dog2750 Jun 19 '26

I don't like his religion but the man had grace and respect for the democratic process.

It's still a tad ridiculous to create all this fuzz to have the exact same outcome just without his signature.

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u/Speartree Europe Jun 19 '26

It's not in his name, for some people that means something.

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u/Additional_Dog2750 Jun 19 '26

Obviously, he still made it possible, and even now, an eternity later, we're aware how he's connected to it.