Abortion should be in Constitution, Swedish liberals say

In reaction to the decision of the American Supreme Court to remove abortion as a right, the Liberals in Sweden want to ensure that something like that will not happen in their own country. They write so in their article on Altinget. The Liberal proposal comes during the campaign for the parliamentary elections on September 11th.

The Liberals plead for actions to protect the right to abortion, instead of outcry on the American decision only. They speak out against possible conscience clauses that allow health professionals to refuse to cooperate with abortions and against proposals to lower the abortion limit, which is currently set to 18 weeks of pregnancy.

"When women's right to free abortion is restricted or revoked, it is women's freedom that is threatened", the authors write in the opinion article. Therefore, they plead for a time limit on abortion that is "set on the medical basis of expert expertise" and for a clause that establishes that "healthcare personnel can never deny a woman an abortion within the time limit or if the abortion has been granted by the National Board of Health and Welfare."

Political stances

Recently, the majority of the Swedish Parliament passed a proposal for the extension of the options for abortion. As the Liberals are responsible for health care in the country, they want to realise the possibility of home abortions as soon as possible.

According to the authors of the opinion article, all Parliamentary parties favour the present Swedish abortion legislation. Even the Christian Democrats that used to be pro-life in the past, have now switched to a pro-choice stance, as CNE.news reported earlier.

Also, the Swedish minister of Social Affairs, Lena Hallengren, is willing to consider whether abortion should be enshrined in the Constitution "during the next time in office."