On March 29, 1990, Belgium passed its abortion law. At last! On the same day, King Baudouin informed the Prime Minister of his refusal to sign the law, which he considered a serious matter of conscience, preventing it from being published in the Official Journal. What followed was a six-day black hole during which, in the greatest secrecy, the government's key ministers, and they alone, attempted to find a way out of this constitutional crisis.