Delegate of Sweden

Country : Sweden
Committee: United Nations Human Rights Council
Topic : The World’s Response of Legal Abortion Issues

History Of Abortion

This review of abortion history considers sacred and secular practice and traces abortion
in the US, the legacy of the 19th century, and the change that occurred in the 20th century.
Currently, while efforts to decrease the need for abortion through contraception and education
continue, access to abortion remains crucial for the well-being of millions of women. Laws that
prohibit absolutely the practice of abortion are a relatively recent development. In the early
Roman Catholic church, abortion was permitted for male fetuses in the first 40 days of
pregnancy and for female fetuses in the first 80-90 days. This standard, declared in 1869,
remains the official position of the church, reaffirmed by the current pope. In the early period
after the 1917 revolution, abortion was readily available in state operated facilities.
After World War II women were encouraged to enter the labor force, and abortion once
again became legal. The legal history of abortion in the US illustrates dramatically that it was
doctors, not women, who defined the morality surrounding abortion. Men had public power and
authority and were encouraged to be sexual. Women were offered the alternative of being
powerful only as sexual beings who could thus enforce a domestic moral order. The legacy of
the 2-sphere family continues, but much has changed. By 1973 pressure for reform had led 14
states to liberalize their existing abortin laws, and the US Supreme Court finally ruled that
abortion is a private matter between a woman and her doctor. The current problem is that
despite new laws and new attitudes toward women and abortion, male dominated and male
defined institutions still determine what is possible.
Abortion In Sweden
Abortion in Sweden was first legislated by the Abortion Act of 1938. That is, if the
pregnancy constituted a serious threat to the woman's life, if she had been impregnated by rape,
or if there was a considerable chance that any serious condition might be inherited by her child,
she could request an abortion. A committee investigated whether these conditions were met in
each individual case and, as a result of this prolonged process, abortion was often not granted
until the middle of the second trimester. The current legislation is the Abortion Act of 1974.
After the 18th, a woman needs a permission from the National Board of Health and Welfare to
have an abortion. Abortion is not allowed if the fetus is viable, which generally means that
abortions after the 22nd week are not allowed. Consensus in Sweden is in favour of preventing
unwanted pregnancies by the use of birth control and the primary goal is not to lower the
amount of abortions, but rather the goal is that all children that are born should be wanted. The
number of abortions statistically follows the number of pregnancies.
 During the second half of the 19th century, abortion court cases became more common
and the issue became a part of public debate. A reform in 1921 replaced the penal labour with a
shorter prison term without penal labour for the patient, but kept the original penalty for the
abortion service provider. Between 1929 and 1933, around 21 patients annually were sentenced
for abortion, and the vast majority was given suspended sentences. During the 1960s, a
successive change in Swedish society took place, and the general attitude towards sexuality, as
well as abortion, became more liberal. The current Abortion Act entered into force on 1 January
1975. It permits abortion on the request of the pregnant woman until the 18th week, and
thereafter only in cases of severe indications of medical risk. In 1989, the Board issued general
advice on implementation of the law . From 1 September 2004, these were superseded by new
advice and policy . Since 1 January 2008, foreign patients – including asylum applicants, non-
permanent residents, and those not registered in Sweden – are allowed to get an abortion in the
country. During 2009, 132 such abortions were performed in Sweden. The National Board of
Health and Welfare called this a comparably small figure, in relation to the total number of
abortions.
The number of induced abortions performed in Sweden rose markedly on a yearly basis
from the early 1960s, but soon leveled off following the liberalization of the abortion law in
1975. It is not possible to tell whether the increase in the statistics after the Abortion Act of
1974 reflects actual circumstances, or just bias resulting from an increased will to report
abortions after legalization. Since 1975, the total yearly number of cases has averaged between
30,000 and 38,000 abortions. The fact that most women in the younger age groups are still
studying, combined with them being new on the labour market, influences the choice to perform
abortion. Although abortion rates vary widely in Sweden, according to geographical region, the
highest rate of teenage abortions is registered in Gotland and in the metropolitan areas of
Stockholm and Gothenburg. In 2018, 84 percent of the induced abortions were performed
before the end of the 9th week of pregnancy and 57 percent before the end of the 7th
week, compared to 55 and 10 percent respectively in 1994. The proportion of medical abortions
constituted 93 percent of all abortions.
Solution
1. The government provides sex education from an early age.
2. The government provides facilities for every child born.
3. Government limits the number of children in each family
4. The government requires women who want to have an abortion
References
"Statistik om aborter 2018" (PDF) (in Swedish). National Board of Health and Welfare. 22 May
2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.

"Rapport om utländska kvinnors aborter i Sverige 2009". National Board of Health and
Welfare. 23 February 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
Lindahl, Katarina. "Aborter i Sverige [Abortion in Sweden]". Nationalencyklopedin (in
Swedish). Bra Böcker
Official Statistics of Sweden: Statistics – Health and Medical Care: Induced abortions
2009 Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine (2010) National Board of Health and
Welfare. ISBN 978-91-86585-24-2.