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Denmark is easing its abortion law for the first time in 50 years to allow women to terminate their pregnancies up to the 18th week.
The government announced Friday it has reached an agreement with four other parties — the Socialist People’s Party, the Red–Green Alliance, the Danish Social Liberal Party and The Alternative — to raise the abortion limit from the current 12 weeks.
The new rules will also allow 15 to 17-year-olds to have an abortion without parental consent and will replace the five regional abortion consultations with a new national abortion board, to avoid local differences.
“It is about the freedom of the individual woman, about the right to decide over her own body and her own life. It is a historic day for women’s equality,” said Danish Minister for Digitalization and Gender Equality Marie Bjerre.
The right to abortion was introduced in Denmark in 1973. The 12-week limit was established “partly due to the fact that at that time all abortions were surgical, and at that time an abortion after 12 weeks carried a greater risk of complications,” the health ministry said. But since then “a lot has happened.”
“After 50 years, it is time for abortion rules to move with the times, and we are now strengthening women’s right to self-determination,” Danish Minister of the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde said.
The government will now amend the Health Act with the new rules, which will enter into force on June 1, 2025.
