The Danish parliament on Thursday adopted a change in the law which will raise the country’s legal threshold for abortion from 12 to 18 weeks of pregnancy.
Denmark’s parliament on Thursday adopted a proposal to raise the abortion limit from 12 to 18 weeks in a vote which caused at least one lawmaker to break with his own party.
The bill was tabled by Minister for the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde of the Liberal (Venstre) party, who described it ahead of Thursday’s vote as a “huge victory” for women in Denmark.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has also vocally backed the decision.
“While others are taking a step backwards, we are taking an important step forward,” Frederiksen wrote in a Facebook post.
“We are expanding women’s right to abortion for young girls and for everyone, in terms of the number of weeks,” she wrote.
“The right to decide over your own body, over your own life and future, is one of the most fundamental rights of all,” she added.
Søren Gade, who is Speaker of parliament and a colleague of Løhde’s in the Liberal party, voted against the proposal. Gade was the only MP from any of the coalition parties to break against the bill but it is unusual for Danish lawmakers to defy their party when it comes to a final vote on any bill.
Gade did not comment on his reasons but confirmed to news wire Ritzau that his no-vote was not a mistake.
Liberal party parliamentary group leader Lars Christian Lilleholt told newspaper Ekstra Bladet that party members were given permission to vote freely on the day, releasing them from orders to vote along party lines.
Gade alone voted against his own party’s bill, which passed with 74 votes in favour and 29 against.
The left-wing and centre-left parties Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten), Socialist People’s Party (SF), Alternative, and Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre), all voted in favour of the bill as did Helena Artmann Andresen of the libertarian Liberal Alliance (LA) party, who was alone in supporting the bill among LA members.
“It means a lot to me to be part of a party where it’s okay to vote differently on ethical dilemmas,” Andresen wrote on Instagram.
Right-wing and centre-right parties the Danish People’s Party, the Conservatives, and the Denmark Democrats all voted against the bill.
