Cardinal objects to Luxembourg 'right' to abortion, but for unusual reasons

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg, has lambasted Luxembourg’s attempt to enshrine abortion “rights” into Luxembourg’s constitution, yet he voiced opposition to it for reasons not centered on the evil of abortion itself.

Key Takeaways:

The Details:

During an interview with the broadcaster RTL in September 2025, the Archbishop of Luxembourg warned against embracing a constitutional right to abortion, contending that since abortion is already legally allowed in Luxembourg, enshrining it in the constitution would be “totalitarian” and would equate to “imposing” a pro-abortion viewpoint on the country’s people, thus violating liberal democratic principles of the freedom to choose. 

“The right to voluntary abortion and the right to contraception are guaranteed. The law regulates the conditions under which these rights are exercised freely and effectively,” the prelate stated, in remarks cited by LifeSiteNews. However, he also said that enshrining 'abortion rights' into the constitution would signify a “sad day in Luxembourg’s history”. 

According to his interview with RTL, the cardinal premised his viewpoints on liberal democratic principles, cautioning that the state should not decide for citizens “what I consider right and wrong,” instead of  relying on the indisputable moral truth that abortion is wrong in all situations.

For him, the issue lay in raising abortion from a legal policy, contingent on legislative change, into an inviolable constitutional “right,” thus drastically undermining future pro-life advocacy in Luxembourg’s legal landscape. 

'Forced opinion'

Cardinal Hollerich elaborated that the state ought not to be creating “something like a forced opinion that is being imposed on us. If one can no longer express oneself freely and can no longer simply say: ‘I have a different opinion,’ then our liberal democracy has taken on the characteristics of a totalitarian system," warning that such a move would cause some Catholics to “no longer feel at ease” in Luxembourg, LifeSiteNews stated. He also voiced his worries that medical professionals might lose their abilities to exercise conscientious objection and be forced to conduct abortions against their ethical beliefs.

Alarmingly, the cardinal expressed support for Luxembourg's Prime Minister and Minister for Religious Affairs, Luc Frieden, describing him as “very intelligent,” claiming that this Christian Social People's Party (CSV) politician comprehends the vital role religion has in society. Notably, the cardinal’s comments were despite a large majority of the CSV national council supporting the move to constitutionally enshrine abortion. 

Regarding the CSV’s move, an RTL report in late September stated:  

An overwhelming majority of the body supported the idea that the Constitution should state that a woman has the freedom to terminate her pregnancy, under the conditions already laid down by law.

The CSV emphasised that this position demonstrates its clear commitment to women's rights and freedom of choice. The party added that it will work with its coalition partner – the Democratic Party (DP) – and other political groups represented in parliament to build the broadest possible consensus around the text, so that the future constitutional guarantee enjoys the strongest legitimacy.

Cardinal Hollerich also stated that enshrining abortion as a 'right' would create a “very dangerous tendency” to drive people to “far-right” politics — without explicitly denouncing the very procedure of abortion itself as intrinsically evil. 

Why It Matters:

Strikingly, Cardinal Hollerich portrayed the abortion debate via the lens of pluralism and liberal democratic principles — namely, that states should not politically or legally impose their viewpoints on their citizens. But the cardinal’s statements overlook the vital reality that abortion is not merely a matter of individual or policy preference but a moral absolute wrong in all circumstances, regardless of the decisions undertaken by a democratic majority.

The moral absolute wrongness of abortion is based on the dignity and sanctity of every human life from conception to natural death.

Measures like enshrining abortion rights into constitutions defy natural law and justice to protect all human lives, under the pretext of promoting “freedom” and “choice” — talking points that pro-abortion supporters have used ad nauseam to push their agenda forward.

Hopefully, Cardinal Hollerich, a prominent member of  the Roman Catholic Church, will fall back on the perennial teaching of the Catholic Church regarding natural law and the sanctity of all human lives created in the image and likeness of God to eventually reiterate his opposition to the truly barbaric evil of abortion.