Denmark expands abortion from 12 to 18 weeks – LifeSite
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (LifeSiteNews) — The Danish Parliament has overwhelmingly voted in favor of raising the abortion limit from the 12th to the 18th week of pregnancy.
The Danish news outlet The Local reports that the committee voted in favor of changing the abortion law with 74 votes in favor and 29 against.
The bill was proposed by Interior and Health Minister Sophie Løhde of the Liberal Venstre Party. She described the change that will allow the killing of unborn babies until the 18th week of pregnancy as a “huge victory” for women in the Nordic countries.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen from the Social Democrats, who has also been a vocal supporter of the abortion bill, said, “While others are taking a step backwards, we are taking an important step forward.”
“We are expanding women’s [so-called] right to abortion for young girls and for everyone, in terms of the number of weeks.”
“The right to decide over your own body, over your own life and future, is one of the most fundamental rights of all,” she wrote about the destruction of unborn children.
Frederiksen’s remarks about others “taking a step backwards” may have been a reference to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022 and many conservative states restricting abortion following the decision.
READ: France votes against life, declares abortion a constitutional ‘freedom’
Søren Gade, the speaker of the Danish parliament, was the only member of the Liberal Venstre Party to vote against the bill.
All other members of the left-wing and center-left parties voted in favor of the change to the abortion law. The right-wing and center-right parties, the Conservatives, the Denmark Democrats, and the Danish People’s Party all voted against the bill. Among the Libertarian Liberal Alliance (LA), only one member, Helena Artmann Andresen, supported the new abortion law.
Ethicist and medical doctor Dr. Calum Miller commented on Denmark’s decision, saying, “Denmark has just voted to increase its abortion limit from 12 weeks to 18 weeks. Babies are already fully formed in the womb by 12 weeks and can probably feel pain.”
“This is not only tragic but deeply evil,” he concluded.
