In July last year, the government set up a committee to look at the provisions of the Abortion Act, the abortion boards and the organization of abortion services. The report arrived today. One of the points was the limit on the right to self-determined abortion. The committee’s majority recommended that the limit be moved from 12 to 18 weeks. When it came to the issue of reducing the number of fetuses, the committee was almost split down the middle, with a narrow majority believing that all applications for reducing the number of fetuses are processed by the abortion board. Believes the proposal weakens the protection of unborn life KrF leader Olaug Bollestad believes it is worrying that the abortion committee proposes free abortion up to the 18th week of pregnancy. – An extension of the limit for free abortion is a radical weakening of the legal protection for unborn life. It puts human dignity under greater pressure, says Bollestad. – KrF will not support such an extension, and we hope that everyone who agrees with us that the legal protection of the fetus should not be weakened will work to keep the current limit. Bollestad says she wants counseling and support for pregnant women to be strengthened. – Free abortion until week 18 is a very radical proposal, and something we will fight against, says the KrF leader. On Thursday, the abortion committee handed over its report to Minister of Health and Care Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap). Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB SV: – The women themselves who should make the choice SV are by far satisfied with the proposal, but would like to see the abortion boards abolished. – It is high time that we now have a modern and updated abortion law, which takes women’s autonomy and self-determination seriously. Here, at first glance, there is a lot that SV will support, says SV’s health policy spokesperson Marian Hussein. – This is a long step in the right direction to ensure women who have abortions, she adds. At the same time, Hussein believes the committee, which today presented its recommendations, could have gone further. She points out that the tribunals should have been abolished in their entirety. – Their time is up. It is the women themselves who should make the choice to have an abortion, says the SV deputy leader. – It is high time that we now get a modern and updated abortion law, which takes women’s autonomy and self-determination seriously, says SV deputy leader Marian Abdi Hussein. Photo: Terje Bendiksby / NTB – This is a day of victory, says Rødt’s Seher Aydar. She points out that she is nevertheless disappointed that women will still not be given full self-determination by maintaining the tribunals. – The courts belong on the scrap heap of history. It shifts power over the woman’s body and life away from the woman herself and onto someone else who is given the power to sort worthy and unworthy justifications. Aydar says it is now the government’s responsibility to ensure that the municipalities get what they need to build up an equal and accessible abortion service across the country. – Medical development has run away from the abortion law. It was time for abortion with pills, i.e. medical abortion, to become available at GPs and health centres, she states. The committee is divided The Center Party’s health policy spokesperson Lisa Marie Ness Klungland points out that the abortion committee is not unanimous in its recommendation to move the border. – The committee is divided from week 12 to week 22 when it comes to the limit for self-determined abortion, says Klungland in a comment. Of the 13 members, two believed that the limit of week 12 should be continued, while one member believed that the limit should be moved to week 22. – We have voted to continue the current abortion limit until week 12. So it is important to us that improves follow-up before, during and after an abortion, says Klungland. Current abortion law Women in Norway can decide for themselves whether they want to have an abortion during the first twelve weeks of a pregnancy. After this, the woman must apply to have an abortion, and appear before a tribunal that decides this. An abortion board consists of two doctors. One of them must be employed at the department that performs abortions at the hospital. There are several conditions that allow a woman to have an abortion approved after the twelfth week. Among other things, if the pregnancy or caring for the child leads to an unreasonable burden on the child, it puts the woman in a difficult life situation, there is a great risk that the child may get a serious illness, if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, the pregnant woman is seriously mentally ill or severely mentally retarded. If the pregnancy is to be terminated after week 18, there must be “particularly weighty” reasons, for example that the mother’s life is in danger or that the fetus will not be able to survive. Sandra Bruflot, parliamentary representative in the Conservative Party, said on Thursday morning, before the report was presented, that they believe that the current law should remain in place. – We always talk about the fact that these are difficult ethical questions, and as long as they are, you have to take into account the fact that there are disagreements. And that’s how it is with us too. This is a compromise between those who think we should have it stricter and those who think it must be more liberal. The Norwegian Nurses’ Association: – Many good proposals The Norwegian Nurses’ Association is positive about the proposal. – The abortion committee has put forward many good proposals. It will strengthen the service offer for women seeking abortions and give us a more forward-looking abortion law. – This must now be followed up by the government and Storting, says leader Lill Sverresdatter Larsen of the Norwegian Nurses Association. The women’s movement wants extended self-determination The women’s group Ottar, Sex og Politikk, Sex og Samfunn and the Norwegian Women’s Affairs Association in the Women’s Movement’s abortion committee are disappointed that the committee believes that self-determination should stop at week 18, and that the abortion boards will be replaced by what they refer to as another form of disempowerment. – We also think it is disappointing that the committee has not included the gold standard for safe and modern abortion services, which has been drawn up by the WHO. With its recommendations, the committee shows that it still does not take pregnant women seriously, and believes that women can still be disempowered.
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