It is far from common for a monarch in 21st-century Europe to refuse to accept the will of the national sovereignty. However, that is precisely what has just happened in the Principality of Monaco, causing an unprecedented institutional clash. The sovereign, Alberto II, has decided to exercise his prerogatives and block a law in progress to legalize abortion in the tiny Mediterranean country.
The issue began on May 15 when the National Council - the Monegasque Assembly, whose members are elected by universal suffrage - took a historic step by approving, with 19 votes in favor and only two against, a bill to decriminalize abortion. As stipulated by the Constitution, the text then passed to the princely Government, which had six months to study it, debate possible amendments, and make a decision. The decision taken has been received as a cold shower by the elected representatives. Days ago, Alberto II, exercising his legal powers, during a meeting with his Executive, led by the Minister of State Christophe Mirmand, imposed his refusal for the bill to continue its processing to become law. The Government then communicated to the President of the National Council, Thomas Brezzo, that the Rock will remain one of the few European countries where abortion is not legal.
Monaco, unlike Spain and most crowned nations in the Old Continent, is not a parliamentary monarchy but a constitutional monarchy. Just like our country was, for example, with Alfonso XII or Alfonso XIII. This means that the Constitution establishes that the sovereign prince shares legislative power with the National Council. Therefore, the monarch's right of intervention and veto regarding laws is almost unlimited.
The surprise came when, on the eve of the National Day, Alberto II explained in an interview with the newspaper Monaco-Matin his position on this delicate issue: "I understand the sensitivity of this issue, the emotions it can evoke, and the painful memories it can bring back for some. Abortion has already been a significant issue in Monaco. In 2009 and 2019, the Government and the National Council found a balance that respects our fundamental identity, our Constitution, and the affected women. (...) We had a long meeting with the Government at the Palace, and I asked them to inform the National Council that their bill will not be processed," he stated.
The sovereign referred to the regulation adopted in 2019 when abortion was decriminalized in cases of rape, irreversible fetal disease or malformation, as well as when the mother's life is in danger. For other cases, abortion is illegal, and professionals involved could face criminal prosecution.
Since then, the debate has been ongoing in the nation. Last fall, the National Council sent a questionnaire to the nearly 8,000 Monegasque citizens with voting rights on various key issues affecting their lives, which was answered by almost 40% of them. It was noteworthy that eight out of ten citizens expressed their desire to legalize abortion. This led the elected representatives to set the legislative machinery in motion, eventually approving the aforementioned bill that aimed to authorize abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, extend legality to 16 weeks in cases of rape, and reduce the age for essential parental consent to 15 years to take such a difficult step.
Catholicism, the State religion
In Prince Albert's decision, both his personal convictions and the fact that it is often overlooked that in Monaco Catholicism remains the State religion have weighed heavily. The Constitution guarantees freedom of worship and support for all faiths, but the Catholic Church is indissolubly linked to the national identity. In fact, representatives of the Holy See have pressured in recent months for the Principality not to give the green light to this law. In Europe, the two countries where abortion is illegal in all circumstances are Vatican City and Andorra, this other principality, like Monaco, with the peculiarity of having two heads of State as co-princes, one being the current president of the French Republic, and the other the bishop of the Seo de Urgell.
Nevertheless, in the glamorous realm of the Grimaldi family, there is a widespread feeling that a double standard prevails. Members of the Assembly emphasized this in May when they stated that their bill aimed to end "a hypocritical situation". "We could no longer turn a blind eye when a young woman, whose suffering is ignored, crosses the street to have an abortion." With these words, Brezzo justified the processing. "Ten years after the partial decriminalization of abortion, we felt that we had not fully fulfilled our duty. Not fully, because it is in the subtle nuance of the word partial, associated with decriminalization, where an ambiguity, an injustice, and frankly, a real hypocrisy reside," he added bluntly. He referred to the common practice that Monegasque women facing this dilemma end up going to centers in France to bypass the local prohibition.
This is not the first time in modern times that a European monarch has faced, as head of State, a conflict between their institutional role and their conscience regarding such sensitive matters. The most famous episode took place in 1990 when the King Baudouin of the Belgians was incapacitated for 36 hours as a legal stratagem to circumvent the crisis caused by his refusal to sign an abortion law.
More recently, in 2008, his nephew, the Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, caused a major institutional crisis when he warned of his refusal to sign the law to decriminalize euthanasia then being processed by Parliament, invoking deep convictions, as he is a devout practicing Catholic. The then Prime Minister, the Christian-social Jean-Claude Juncker, had to quickly push through a constitutional reform by which from that moment on, the Grand Duke ceased to sanction laws, limiting his function to endorsing them. This way, Henri could circumvent the conscience problem of giving his approval to a law regulating euthanasia.
In recent years, clashes between the Monegasque National Council and the princely Government - whose six members answer to the sovereign - have not been uncommon. The new term actually began with a rebellion by elected members of the Chamber ready to reject the supplementary budget proposed by Christophe Mirmand's Executive, who had just taken office. And earlier, in the spring, almost on the eve of the celebrations for Alberto II's 20 years on the throne, the Assembly criticized some actions of the Executive in an atmosphere of mutual distrust that starkly contrasts with the idyllic image projected by all events involving the Grimaldi dynasty. Now, the discomfort in the Chamber with the sovereign for acting in an almost tyrannical manner against popular will is more than palpable. The best expression of this was from the President of the Legislation Committee, Christine Pasquier-Ciulla, who cryptically stated, "we take note". A little message directed at the almighty sovereign prince.