The United States Supreme Court on Friday revoked the right to abortion. Against the current of the majority of the Belgian political class, the mayor MR of Wezembeek had explained to La Libre to support the decision of the American Supreme Court. “I am opposed to free abortion, except for therapeutic reasons, for example if we know that the child will only have a life expectancy of a few hours. I am once morest the right to free abortion”, declared the mayor of Wezembeek-Oppem.
Frédéric Petit made a point of clarifying his position. “I maintain my point of view but I must also take into account the fact that my remarks put some of my colleagues in difficulty, with regard to my function”, he explains to us.
“I regret having expressed this personal opinion”
In a press release sent to La Libre, he returns to “the reservations expressed in relation to the consequences of the recent judgment of the Supreme Court of the United States”. Frédéric Petit specifies that “this opinion was given on a strictly personal basis”.
Frédéric Petit continues. “I sincerely regret having issued this personal opinion, forgetting the representative function that I exercise within the municipality.” He explains that he “got carried away by (his) intimate experience”. “I want to apologize to anyone who felt associated with my comments.” Frédéric Petit, who assures us that he has not been contacted or received an injunction from his party president, recalls that the MR, of which he is a member, “expressed itself clearly by affirming through the voice of its president that the party did not share her opinion and was “totally in favor of women’s freedom to dispose of their bodies and therefore in favor of the right to abortion”.
He concludes by specifying that he respects “the position of the party and appreciates the possibility that the members of the MR have to express themselves and to vote freely in the ethical debates as is the case for that of abortion. ”.
His personal point of view “has nothing to do with his commitment as mayor or with municipal management”.
Eddies at MR
This attempt at appeasement comes as Frédéric Petit’s previous statements have provoked turmoil within the MR and made several liberals jump, including Denis Ducarme, Christine Defraigne and Olivier Destrebecq.
The MR of Wezembeek-Oppem even dissociated himself from the words of his mayor. “Although Mr. Petit is a good municipal manager, we do not share his opinion on the issue of abortion. We invite him to review his liberal philosophy on this subject”, they declared in the DH.
For his part, Georges-Louis Bouchez had specified that the mayor of Wezembeek-Oppem would not be reframed. “There is no party line on the subject since since 1962, freedom of vote has been the rule on these issues”, recalled the president of the MR, adding that it was an “opinion and not a crime, reasons why, even if my position is totally in favor of the freedom of women to dispose of their bodies and therefore in favor of the right to abortion, he is free and responsible for his words”.