The Evolution of Abortion Legislation in Denmark

Abstract

Denmark was the first Western country to grant statutory access to abortion within its national health system in 1973. Since then, abortion legislation has remained relatively stable, with only incremental adjustments. This article examines parliamentary debates and legislative proposals on abortion from 1973 to 2025 to trace shifts in the justificatory frameworks surrounding abortion policy. Our analysis shows a clear transition from religiously grounded arguments in the early 1970s to an emphasis on ethical, health-related, and individual-rights-based arguments in subsequent decades. After legalization, abortion largely became a depoliticized “valence issue,” rarely provoking polarized debates, except through the Christian People’s Party, which gradually abandoned its opposition. By 2023–2025, discussions centered not on the legitimacy of abortion itself, but on boundaries such as gestational limits and access for minors. The role of the Danish Ethical Council illustrates how nonreligious understandings of ethics— rooted in autonomy, health, and equality—came to dominate the debate, while theological perspectives became increasingly marginal. Drawing on Ronald Inglehart’s concept of Nordicization, we argue that the Danish case reflects a broader cultural shift from pro-fertility norms to individual-choice norms. At the same time, the framework of abortion committees and collective ethical deliberation highlights how individual autonomy remains embedded in a societal responsibility to safeguard abortion as an ethical practice. The Danish abortion debate thus exemplifies the declining role of religion in politics and the growing importance of women’s rights, health, and collective ethics in shaping reproductive legislation.