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ABORTION

Norwegian women abort girls in Sweden

Pregnant Norwegian woman have been allowed to undergo abortions in Sweden after finding out the sex of their child, according to new revelations from a medical ethics consultant in Oslo.

These trips are a fact, according to a Swedish professor colleague.

“We know that it happens as people have told us,” said director Sissel Rogne at the

Biotechnology Advisory Board (Bioteknologinämnden) to Svenska Dagbladet (SvD).

Rogne explains that in Norway it is forbidden to undergo an abortion on the grounds of gender.

Gynaecologist Lars Hamberger in Gothenburg confirmed to SvD that the abortion trips are a known fact. He expressed understanding for the women.

“If they have three, four girls and are from Turkey the demands on them to produce a boy are strong.”

“In certain cases I can understand the problem.”

In Norway, as in Denmark, the 12th week is the limit for abortion in the absence of any special circumstances while the limit in Sweden is 18 weeks.

Norway has introduced a ban on identifying the gender of a child before the 12 week of pregnancy.

But in reality the information can be made available and women in general demand to know, according to Bo Sultan at Uppsala University Hospital.

Sultan has previously worked in Norway. It is, he says, “of course a dilemma” that Norwegian woman turn to Sweden.

“I have not personally had a patient that has crossed the border, but then that is nothing one would show off about,” Sultan said.

HEALTH

What you need to know about Spain’s plan to change its abortion laws

In Spain women can get an abortion for free in all public hospitals up until 14 weeks, no questions asked. But the reality is that many doctors refuse to perform them. The Spanish government is revising its laws to make sure it is enforced across the country.

What you need to know about Spain’s plan to change its abortion laws
Anti-abortion supporters take part in a march in Madrid in 2014. In Spain women have the right to abortions up to the 14th week of their pregnancy, but many doctors across the country refuse to perform the procedure. Photo by DANI POZO / AFP

Under the current legislation introduced by the previous Socialist government in 2010, women in Spain have the right to abortions up to the 14th week of their pregnancy, which is standard in much of Europe.

They also have the legal right to abort up to the 22nd week of pregnancy in cases where the mother’s health is at risk or the foetus has serious deformities.

‘Conscientious objectors’

However, in practice this law translates into a very different reality.  

Many doctors across Spain refuse to practice abortions, calling themselves “conscientious objectors”.

So many doctors deny the procedure across the country, that in five out of the 17 autonomous regions in Spain, no public hospitals offer abortions, according to data from the Health Ministry

This causes stark regional inequalities, forcing thousands of women to either travel to another part of the country, or pay for one in a private clinic, despite the 2010 law stating that “all women should benefit from equal access to abortion regardless of where they reside”.

According to the data, the provinces of Teruel, Ávila, Palencia, Segovia, Zamora, Cuenca, Toledo and Cáceres have not performed a single abortion in the past 30 years.

And, another even more revealing statistic: in 2019, 85 per cent of abortions took place in private clinics.

The map below shows the provinces that never perform abortions in red, the ones where it has varied over the years in orange, and the ones where they have always been available in green.

READ ALSO: Why does Spain top Europe’s Covid vaccination league table?

Law reform

The minister of equality, Irene Montero, has proposed a reform of the current law that would limit doctors being able to refuse the procedure.

“Conscientious objection cannot be an obstacle for women to exercise their right to terminate a pregnancy,” Montero said in a tweet. “We must reform the law to regulate it and make sure abortion is guaranteed in the public health system.”

Montero said the draft law would be ready in December after a consultation process.

However, others have said doctors should not be forced to perform abortions.

The president of Madrid’s regional government, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, said she would not force “any doctor in Madrid’s public health system to practice an abortion against their will” because doctors study medicine “to save lives and not to do the opposite”.

Conservatism

The situation shows abortion remains a dividing issue in Spain, where a large part of the conservative population is still opposed to a law that was introduced over a decade ago.

The former conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had promised to tighten Spain’s abortion law before he came into power in 2011.

However he was forced to drop the plans in 2014 due to disagreement within his Popular Party (PP). This angered many Catholic and other pro-life groups.

The reform would have ended women’s rights to freely terminate their pregnancies up until the 14th weeks. 

In 2015 Rajoy’s government passed another reform requiring girls aged 16 and 17 to get their parents’ consent if they wished to terminate a pregnancy. But the measure failed to pacify pro-life campaigners.

Montero also announced plans to repeal the 2015 reform as part of the draft law.

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