Denmark’s Conservatives in favour of reducing minimum abortion age
The Danish Conservative party supports reducing the age at which young women have the right to free abortion from 18 to 15.
This means that girls aged between 15 and 18 would be able to access an abortion through the health services without the involvement of their parents or guardians.
After a number of specialists told newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad they believed Denmark’s minimum age for abortion should be reduced, the Conservatives said they agree.
“My initial stance is that that we have a sexual age of consent of 15 years and that of course involves being able to get pregnant,” party health spokesperson Per Larsen said.
“And 15-year-olds also have the option of using contraception – the contraceptive pill and other things – and I therefore thing it is obvious that you should have the option of an abortion if you have an unwanted pregnancy,” he said.
Currently, a person aged 15-17 needs permission from their parents or guardians to have an abortion, apart from in some special circumstances where exceptions can be granted.
In 2021, a total of 30 requests for abortions without parental approval were considered by Denmark’s five regional health authorities, according to a report from the appeals board Abortankenævnet, reported by Kristeligt Dagblad.
Three of the 30 requests were refused.
Parliament has on two previous occasions considered whether to reduce the minimum legal age for abortion, according to the newspaper.
But the minimum age has not changed since the free right to abortion was introduced in 1973, when Denmark became one of the first countries in the world to allow it.
A consultant psychiatrist and professor in medical female sexual health told Kristeligt Dagblad that “time has left behind” Denmark’s abortion rules.
“We have laws which do not take into account that young people today are more mature and are more likely to be in sexual relatinships than in the past,” the researcher, Birgit Petersson, said.
The Danish Council of Ethics (Det Etiske Råd) has signalled it intends this year to update its stated position on Denmark’s abortion rules.
The Council is expected to say that it supports a change to the current limit of 12 weeks for free abortion. Specialists have argued that the limit should be between 18 and 22 weeks, similar to other countries in the Nordic region.
In Sweden, free abortion is allowed until week 18 of pregnancy. In Iceland it is permitted up to 22 weeks.
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This means that girls aged between 15 and 18 would be able to access an abortion through the health services without the involvement of their parents or guardians.
After a number of specialists told newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad they believed Denmark’s minimum age for abortion should be reduced, the Conservatives said they agree.
“My initial stance is that that we have a sexual age of consent of 15 years and that of course involves being able to get pregnant,” party health spokesperson Per Larsen said.
“And 15-year-olds also have the option of using contraception – the contraceptive pill and other things – and I therefore thing it is obvious that you should have the option of an abortion if you have an unwanted pregnancy,” he said.
Currently, a person aged 15-17 needs permission from their parents or guardians to have an abortion, apart from in some special circumstances where exceptions can be granted.
In 2021, a total of 30 requests for abortions without parental approval were considered by Denmark’s five regional health authorities, according to a report from the appeals board Abortankenævnet, reported by Kristeligt Dagblad.
Three of the 30 requests were refused.
Parliament has on two previous occasions considered whether to reduce the minimum legal age for abortion, according to the newspaper.
But the minimum age has not changed since the free right to abortion was introduced in 1973, when Denmark became one of the first countries in the world to allow it.
A consultant psychiatrist and professor in medical female sexual health told Kristeligt Dagblad that “time has left behind” Denmark’s abortion rules.
“We have laws which do not take into account that young people today are more mature and are more likely to be in sexual relatinships than in the past,” the researcher, Birgit Petersson, said.
The Danish Council of Ethics (Det Etiske Råd) has signalled it intends this year to update its stated position on Denmark’s abortion rules.
The Council is expected to say that it supports a change to the current limit of 12 weeks for free abortion. Specialists have argued that the limit should be between 18 and 22 weeks, similar to other countries in the Nordic region.
In Sweden, free abortion is allowed until week 18 of pregnancy. In Iceland it is permitted up to 22 weeks.
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