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HEALTH

Swedish opposition demands coronavirus commission

Sweden's two biggest opposition parties called on Friday for an independent commission to be appointed within weeks to probe the country's response to the coronavirus.

Swedish opposition demands coronavirus commission
People walk in Drottninggatan in Stockholm on May 29, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP

The conservative Moderate Party and the populist Sweden Democrats said they wanted a commission in place before the summer.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, a Social Democrat, has repeatedly expressed support for a commission but has said he would appoint one after the pandemic was over.

There has been broad political unity over Sweden's softer approach to the new coronavirus, but most parties have agreed on the need to examine the government's crisis management.

Sweden, which on Friday reported 4,350 COVID-19 deaths, has struggled to protect its elderly from the illness, with more than three quarters of the dead residing in nursing homes or receiving at-home care.

A commission would also be likely to examine the country's economic response to the crisis, and its slow roll-out of testing for the illness.

While the government has raised its testing capacity to 100,000 tests a week, Sweden was at the end of May still only testing around 30,000 people a week due to bureaucratic bottlenecks.

“There are many parties that agree with us that (a commission) should be appointed as soon as possible and not wait until after the crisis,” Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson told reporters.

He said he would raise the issue in parliament next week if Lofven did not move on the issue. Kristersson's proposal enjoys broad support in parliament.

 

Member comments

  1. As a Portuguese living in Sweden,I am petrified with the Swedish notion of logic. The government trusts the population to behave correctly and not contaminate the fellow citizen by a deadly virus. But does not trust and therefore prohibits population to buy a simple bottle of wine from supermarkets.
    I find it very bizzar

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HEALTH

Danish parties agree to raise abortion limit to 18 weeks

Denmark's government has struck a deal with four other parties to raise the point in a pregnancy from which a foetus can be aborted from 12 weeks to 18 weeks, in the first big change to Danish abortion law in 50 years.

Danish parties agree to raise abortion limit to 18 weeks

The government struck the deal with the Socialist Left Party, the Red Green Alliance, the Social Liberal Party and the Alternative party, last week with the formal announcement made on Monday  

“In terms of health, there is no evidence for the current week limit, nor is there anything to suggest that there will be significantly more or later abortions by moving the week limit,” Sophie Løhde, Denmark’s Minister of the Interior and Health, said in a press release announcing the deal.

The move follows the recommendations of Denmark’s Ethics Council, which in September 2023 proposed raising the term limit, pointing out that Denmark had one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Western Europe. 

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Under the deal, the seven parties, together with the Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives, have also entered into an agreement to replace the five regional abortion bodies with a new national abortion board, which will be based in Aarhus. 

From July 1st, 2025, this new board will be able to grant permission for abortions after the 18th week of pregnancy if there are special considerations to take into account. 

The parties have also agreed to grant 15-17-year-olds the right to have an abortion without parental consent or permission from the abortion board.

Marie Bjerre, Denmark’s minister for Digitalization and Equality, said in the press release that this followed logically from the age of sexual consent, which is 15 years old in Denmark. 

“Choosing whether to have an abortion is a difficult situation, and I hope that young women would get the support of their parents. But if there is disagreement, it must ultimately be the young woman’s own decision whether she wants to be a mother,” she said. 

The bill will be tabled in parliament over the coming year with the changes then coming into force on June 1st, 2025.

The right to free abortion was introduced in Denmark in 1973. 

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