The Swedish Parliament voted today in favor of introducing the right to abortion into the Swedish Constitution. All political parties supported the proposal. Since this concerns a constitutional amendment, however, one more vote is still required before the proposal can be adopted.
Wednesday’s parliamentary decision means that the right to abortion may be introduced as a new fundamental civil right and liberty.
The vote took place despite the fact that all parliamentary parties support the current abortion legislation and that the right to abortion is not considered to be under threat. The government nevertheless says it wants to guarantee the right to abortion “even if developments in Sweden were to occur where the right is questioned.” No further clarification is given.
In a press release, the Government writes:
“The Government’s view is that the right to abortion is a fundamental matter of freedom that is of decisive importance for an equal society. A starting point for the continued assessment is therefore that the right to abortion is an important part of the fundamental right to decide over one’s own body.
Therefore, the Government proposes that the right to abortion be written into the Constitution. The Committee on the Constitution supports the Government’s proposal.”
The Government’s proposal means that the right to abortion would become the only healthcare-related right explicitly written into the Constitution through the wording: “A person who is pregnant has the right to terminate the pregnancy according to provisions laid down by law.”
Women’s rights commentators have criticized the wording of the proposal, arguing that it is too weak and in practice would not provide any stronger protection. The wording merely states that someone has the right to terminate a pregnancy, but not under what circumstances. The conditions for abortion would continue to be regulated by ordinary legislation.
Critics of abortion, however, argue that constitutionally protecting the right to abortion risks leading to a further liberalization of Sweden’s already liberal abortion legislation. Current law permits abortion on request up to week 18 and abortion with approval from the National Board of Health and Welfare up to the end of week 22.
Since abortions are classified as “care that cannot be postponed,” all women present in Sweden have the right to obtain an abortion at a Swedish hospital. This has led to both well-known and extensive abortion tourism, where women from countries with more restrictive abortion laws travel to Sweden in order to carry out sex-selective abortions, that is, aborting fetuses of the “wrong” sex.
The proposal to constitutionally protect abortion rights was originally introduced by Ebba Busch, party leader for Christian Democrats, but quickly gained support from all parliamentary parties. Since the proposal concerns an amendment to the Constitution, another vote is required before the change can enter into force. The second vote will take place after the parliamentary elections this autumn.