Liechtenstein Prince Alois Vetoes Abortion Reform Backed by Citizens' Initiative

The hereditary prince of Liechtenstein has, for the first time in his reign, used his veto, and he has used it to kill a bill that would have brought the principality's abortion law closer to the rest of Europe. The royal house confirmed this week that Prince Alois would "withhold his sanction from the bill", which parliament had approved last month.

The bill did not come from nowhere. Campaigners launched a citizens' initiative in February calling for abortion to be decriminalised up to 12 weeks, for the procedure to be covered by health insurance, and for the repeal of a nationwide ban on sharing information about how to access abortion. Only 1,000 signatures were needed to send it to parliament. More than 4,970 people signed, roughly a quarter of the country's voters. Parliament then voted, narrowly, to back it, and an August poll suggested 62% of voters favoured reform.

The prince had said as much beforehand. As the initiative gathered momentum, Alois announced he would use his veto against any overhaul of the law, and that promise hung over the campaign throughout. His statement this week said that after careful consideration he remained convinced the reform was not compatible with adequate protection of unborn life as a fundamental legal value. The royal house did not answer the Guardian's further request for comment.

Under current law, abortion is allowed only in limited circumstances, such as when a woman's life is at risk or the pregnancy results from rape. Since 2015, women have been legally allowed to travel abroad to end a pregnancy. Campaigners estimate about 40 women a year do so, often to Austria or Switzerland, facing the cost, the need to arrange childcare and, for some, the lack of a vehicle. Those barriers were what the initiative hoped to remove.

Tatjana As'Ad, who led the initiative and works for the small leftwing party Free List, said she was not surprised but was disappointed. "It's surreal what's happening right now in 2026 in a state in the middle of Europe," she said. She argued the veto would do little to stop abortions: they are banned, but still happen, and will simply keep happening abroad.

Campaigners said they met Alois hours before he announced his decision. The committee behind the initiative said in a statement that a single individual was overriding a decision initiated by almost a quarter of eligible voters and passed by parliament. It noted that Alois had only twice threatened to veto legislation, in 2011 and again during this campaign, and both times the subject was abortion. "When it comes to abortion, there is only one decision-maker," the committee wrote.

The scale of the monarch's power frames the dispute. Gabriella Alvarez-Hummel, a journalist and one of the campaigners, noted that the ruling prince can appoint judges and dismiss the government or individual ministers. "He has a veto over everything, really," she said. In 2012, voters overwhelmingly chose to uphold his veto powers in a referendum that was widely seen at the time as a proxy debate over whether Liechtenstein should keep its monarchy.

Alvarez-Hummel called the decision very troubling, pointing out that Liechtenstein was the last country in Europe to give women the vote in national elections, in 1984. "I had hoped that we wouldn't be the last in abortion rights as well, but it doesn't look good at the moment," she said. She also credited the campaign with some gains, saying it had chipped away at a decades-long taboo on discussing the subject. She worried, though, that the roughly 40 women who go abroad each year will now face greater stigma.

There is one opening. In his statement, Alois said he was open to lifting the ban on information about abortion, suggesting women might one day be able to consult their healthcare provider about where to get the procedure abroad and about support afterwards. Whether that becomes a concrete proposal is the next thing to watch.