Ethics Council suggests 18 week abortion

Denmark has one of the most restrictive abortion limits in Western Europe, a situation that a majority of the Danish Council of Ethics says should change, recommending that the limit should be changed from 12 to 18 weeks. This will increase the woman’s right to decide over her own body and give her a longer period of reflection compared to the first examination of the foetus. Among the majority of nine members is professor of psychiatry Merete Nordentoft: “It is the woman who will have the final say until the 18th week. But there must be good advice about the nature of the procedure and the possibility of getting support if the woman wants to carry out the pregnancy,” she says.
     In the first part of pregnancy, pregnant women are offered a scan of the foetus’ nuchal fold, which can show whether the baby will be born with Down’s syndrome. The answer to the scan typically comes after the current limit, and thus the pregnant woman must seek a regional abortion consultation on permission if she wants an abortion. “Such a crucial decision is for the woman herself. At the same time, with the 18th week, we ensure a good distance to the viability criterion at the 22nd week,” says Merete Nordentoft.    
     The debate about the abortion limit gained momentum in January when, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of free abortion, obstetricians and Sex and Society criticised the 12-week limit for being out of step with foetal examinations and a modern view of women. At the time, Health Minister Sophie Løhde would not answer whether the government would change the law. She awaited the Ethics Council. After the announcement of the recommendations on Tuesday, she said in a written comment that the government had not decided on a possible new weekly limit. “But we are open to discussing the issue, and I look forward to delving thoroughly into the statements from the Danish Council of Ethics together with the parties in the Folketing. The Social Democrats go one step further. Health spokesman Flemming Møller Mortensen is ready to raise the week limit.  /ritzau/