Norway proposes relaxing its abortion law to allow the procedure until 18th week of pregnancy
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/08/2024 (763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway’s government said Friday it wants to relax restrictions on abortion for the first time in nearly half a century to make it legal for women to terminate pregnancies up to the 18th week of gestation.
Norway’s laws currently allow legal abortions up to 12 weeks, but many pregnant women ask for an abortion after the 12th week and are granted it in hospitals and clinics.
The proposed changes are “in line with practice today. Almost no one is refused applications for abortion after the 12th week,” Norwegian Health Minister Jan Christian Vestre said. He said that “women’s right to self-determined abortion is a fundamental value in Norway.”
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health said abortion rate has remained “historically low for several years” at about 12,000 each year, but began to rise in 2022. Last year some 12,814 pregnancy terminations were performed in Norway, a 6.7% increase from 2022, figures show.
The government agency said that eight out of 10 abortions are performed before the 9th week, and that nine out of 10 abortions are performed with medication.
Free abortion was introduced in Norway in 1978 and women can opt for a surgical or medical abortion. “Society has changed significantly since the 1970s,” Vestre told a press conference.
The law proposal needs a majority — 85 votes — in the 169-member Stortinget, or parliament. So far some 80 lawmakers have said they will vote in favor of the new law. It was not yet clear when a vote would be held in parliament.
The Center Party, which holds 28 seats in Stortinget and is one of the parties in the governing coalition, wants to keep the current abortion limit of 12 weeks.
Family Minister Kjersti Toppe said she hopes that “as many people as possible vote in line with the party line,” but added that the issue was “a matter of conscience” and allowed party members to vote against the party’s stance.
In May, Denmark said it was liberalizing the abortion law to allow the procedure until 18th week of pregnancy.