SGP support for Dutch budget in doubt after motion against minister

The Dutch Reformed Political Party (SGP) is now less likely to back the government’s health budget and tax plan after its MP Diederik van Dijk tabled a motion of disapproval against Health Minister Sophie Hermans over a trial involving abortions late in pregnancy. [1]

Van Dijk objects to Hermans allowing the trial to continue. The SGP had made stopping it one of its conditions for supporting the health, welfare and sport ministry’s budget, but Hermans defended the trial during a parliamentary debate. [1]

The trial concerns abortions between 22 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. The SGP raised the issue repeatedly during the debate, while a majority of the House of Representatives supports Hermans’s policy, according to the report. [1]

The SGP and JA21 are possible partners for the cabinet in securing right-wing support for its tax plan. JA21 has also tied its support to a change in how a law distributing asylum seekers across the country is implemented; the report says the cabinet does not appear willing to meet that demand either. [1]