Officials in Denmark have announced plans to expand the country’s abortion laws, extending the cutoff from 12 to 18 weeks and allowing 15- to 17-year-olds the ability to get an abortion without parental consent.
In a release published Friday, government officials say they have reached an agreement with four political parties: the Socialist People’s Party, the Red–Green Alliance, the Danish Social Liberal Party and The Alternative, to change the country’s current law, which prohibits abortion after 12 weeks and requires a woman to be 18 years of age. The changes will also create a new national abortion board, eliminating the five regional boards that currently exist.
Abortion was first legalized in the country in 1973, with officials citing a 12-week limit because it was considered ‘safe’ at the time — though abortions are still dangerous and carry a number of risks to women. The law change is ideological and is not based on any change in the scientific facts surrounding the humanity of preborn human beings.
Lawmaker Mette Thiesen called the move “a terrible day,” saying, “It’s a terrible new law.” She went on to say there is a “very fine balance between the woman’s right to her own body, but also the right to life of the little life that lies in the mother’s womb.”
“In week 18, we are talking about a small person with fingers and toes, which you can feel inside the womb,” she said.
Yet, proponents of the change claim “strengthening women’s rights” as their reason for the expansion.
“After 50 years, it’s time for the rules governing abortion to change and to strengthen women’s right to decide,” Health Minister Sophie Lohde said of the changes.
Officials also praised the decision to allow minors to abort without parental permission. In Denmark, the age of sexual consent is considered to be 15 years of age.
“Choosing whether to have an abortion is a difficult situation, and I hope that young women would get the support of their parents. But if there is disagreement, it must ultimately be the young woman’s own decision whether she wants to be a mother,” said Marie Bjerre, Denmark’s minister for Digitalization and Equality.
Once the law change is officially adopted, it is expected to take effect June 1, 2025.
