Lucie Van Crombrugge

Why an honorary doctorate? 

In 2015 Lucie Van Crombrugge was awarded an honorary doctorate by VUB.

The honour of the right of self-determination

Her unflinching fight for the legalisation of abortion made her a woman for women. An equitable soldier who regularly faced down the eye of the storm. Because she jumped on the barricades for her conviction that every woman has the right to make her own decisions. Her respect for everyone's situation was great and her involvement free of judgements. Van Crombrugge personified the values of VUB to the fullest. She dedicated her doctorate to her supporters, to others. A gesture that typified woman at her most beautiful. 

A child does not choose where its cradle stands. This is the translation of a Dutch saying. There is always a grain of truth in this. That the cradle will definitely not stand in a good place is something that some women know for sure. Whereas every human being has the right to begin their life in a safe and loving place. But reality sometimes overshadows the rosy prospects. Then, unfortunately, choices are heartbreaking and imbued with intense sadness. 

About her career

The hand that rocks the cradle does not move the world.

This Women's Day theme in 1976 of the women's consultation committee (VOK) is a source of inspiration for Lucie.

The fight for abortion

A child does not choose where its cradle stands. For Van Crombrugge, the choice for an abortion is just as morally justified as the choice for a child.

I don't decide just like that, but I decide for myself.

It is a struggle to make a choice, a mother's choice to bear the suffering herself that her prospective child would otherwise suffer.

1976: joined feminist groups: the VOK and the Dolle Minas

1968: collective contraception

1990: abortion is legalised.

It’s louder on the barricades

1963. Lucie Van Crombrugge dreams of a career as a journalist. But she can only take this particular course in Antwerp, and she does not want to ask her parents to take that bite out of their budget. She chooses to study history at university. 

A year after graduating, she and her husband leave for the Congo for two years. It is 1968. He is going to do his civic service there, while she slowly but surely becomes inspired by student demonstrations and anti-authoritarian education. She decides to stay at home for the children, because who else but a mother would raise her offspring in the best way?

1976. Ypres hosts the annual Women's Day of the Women's Consultative Committee (VOK). It is the theme "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Doesn't Move the World" that sets Lucie thinking. She realises that staying at home for her children is not for her. Van Crombrugge starts working for the VOK and the socialist-feminist movement, the Dolle Minas. She grows as a feminist activist and also joins the Abortion Committee. 

It is September 1983 when the 'Kollektief Anticonception' - which performs abortions illegally in Ghent - asks Van Crombrugge to come and work there and to speak to women who come looking for help. Her reply is a resounding yes. The monthly meetings, which are also attended by doctors, feature impassioned discussions and significant disagreements. But the illegality and the commitment is the glue between everyone.

However, danger regularly lurks around the corner. One day, the bobbies burst in and the centre is forced to close its doors for three months. Van Crombrugge continues to fight for the right to self-determination and on 3 April 1990, in an atmosphere of general euphoria, the abortion law is signed.

One is now allowed to terminate a pregnancy artificially, but only in emergency situations and until the end of the twelfth week. In a later stage, it is only permissible if the mother's health is at risk or the child has a serious defect. 

In the 'Kollektief Anticonceptie' the restructuring begins, with psychologists and sexologists and more, and in '96 Lucie becomes coordinator. She makes the decisions, but always in consultation with her team.

She still talks to the women in trouble, in her own activist way, but focuses more and more on political lobbying and representation at international conferences. At that time, abortion is still a criminal law matter. For Van Crombrugge, choosing to have an abortion is just as morally justified as choosing to have a child. Every woman has an autonomous right of decision. No woman asks for an unwanted pregnancy or frivolously opts for abortion.

Late-term abortions are a sensitive issue. For the world, the mothers - who are often on the verge of suicide - but also for Lucie herself. They are the exception, but they exist. Women are referred to the Netherlands and Spain because there they do allow abortions at a later stage. Van Crombrugge stands with them 100%.

Of course, she also respects the emotional and moral arguments of opponents. Much headwind comes from the "Pro-Vita movement", which has a strong presence in Europe. But Lucie defends a woman's right to decide based on her own situation. Lucie continues to push for the full legalisation of abortion. But no political party wants or dares to put the item on the agenda.

Despite everything, Lucie calls her experiences - however difficult - positive and is grateful for the glimpse she gets into the souls of so many women. "Abortion is a matter of the heart, not of the mind", says she quoting the murdered American George Tiller, who performed late-term abortions. 

Van Crombrugge retires in May 2009. She realises that the discussion on abortion will never end, that people must stay awake and alert. She starts writing down her memoirs and hopes to do something with them one day.

On 17 May 2017, she closes her eyes forever, those eyes with which she was allowed to look into so many hurting women's hearts.