The Walloon minister-president told the governor of Louisiana that he was no longer welcome, following the decision of this state to ban voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG). The choice of Louisiana was that of 2020, but it could not materialize due to the health crisis. However, on June 24, in a historic about-face, the very conservative Supreme Court of the United States buried a judgment which, for nearly half a century, had guaranteed the right of American women to have an abortion. For the moment, seven American states totally ban abortions. Legal battles are delaying the deadline in Louisiana in particular, but, in the long term, access to abortion should disappear in half of the country.
For Elio Di Rupo (PS), “it is inconceivable for Wallonia to grant the title of guest of honor to a state that does not respect what we consider to be fundamental law. And abortion is a fundamental right! “
“Each woman must be able to freely dispose of her body without the risk of being prosecuted. With the abolition of the right to abortion in the United States, many women will find themselves in situations of distress. They will be obliged to lead to term their unwanted pregnancies or worse to carry to term pregnancies that are the result of rape or incest. The revocation of the right to abortion by the American Supreme Court is a real scandal for our Western democracies. This is the opposite of the values defended by Wallonia”, commented the Walloon Minister-President to the private channel.
No decision has been made at this stage on the possible choice of a new guest of honor, according to Di Rupo’s office.