Would the Swedish abortion law be considered liberal or conservative by American standards?

[Tammuz]

Sweden is usually considered a liberal and progressive country in the USA (I think it doesn't really follow along the American political spectrum, to be honest), but I have heard that the Swedish abortion legislation would be considered conservative by American standards. Is that true? The legislation is summarized below:

The current legislation is the Abortion Act of 1974 (SFS 1974:595). This states that up until the end of the eighteenth week of the pregnancy the choice of an abortion is entirely up to the woman, for any reason whatsoever. After the 18th a woman needs a permission from the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) to have an abortion. Permission for these late abortions is usually granted for cases in which the fetus or mother are unhealthy. Abortion is not allowed if the fetus is viable, which generally means that abortions after the 22nd week are not allowed. However, abortions after the 22nd week may be allowed in the rare cases where the fetus can not survive outside the womb even if it is carried to term.

Abortion is not considered a hot political issue in Sweden, and is settled. It is very rarely brought up in political debates. The current law was established in 1974.

 

[credoconsolans]

Sweden is usually considered a liberal and progressive country in the USA (I think it doesn't really follow along the American political spectrum, to be honest), but I have heard that the Swedish abortion legislation would be considered conservative by American standards. Is that true? The legislation is summarized below:

The current legislation is the Abortion Act of 1974 (SFS 1974:595). This states that up until the end of the eighteenth week of the pregnancy the choice of an abortion is entirely up to the woman, for any reason whatsoever. After the 18th a woman needs a permission from the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) to have an abortion. Permission for these late abortions is usually granted for cases in which the fetus or mother are unhealthy. Abortion is not allowed if the fetus is viable, which generally means that abortions after the 22nd week are not allowed. However, abortions after the 22nd week may be allowed in the rare cases where the fetus can not survive outside the womb even if it is carried to term.

Abortion is not considered a hot political issue in Sweden, and is settled. It is very rarely brought up in political debates. The current law was established in 1974.

Conservative. A woman having to ask the government for permission to have a medical procedure is very conservative and that they have the right to investigate and pass judgement on her request is extremely conservative.

 

[bilby]

Sweden is usually considered a liberal and progressive country in the USA (I think it doesn't really follow along the American political spectrum, to be honest), but I have heard that the Swedish abortion legislation would be considered conservative by American standards. Is that true? The legislation is summarized below:



Abortion is not considered a hot political issue in Sweden, and is settled. It is very rarely brought up in political debates. The current law was established in 1974.

Conservative. A woman having to ask the government for permission to have a medical procedure is very conservative and that they have the right to investigate and pass judgement on her request is extremely conservative.

I agree.

It is also very liberal. A woman having the right to do as she pleases in the first 18 weeks would be completely unacceptable to conservatives in the US.

So it is both - liberal up to 18 weeks, and conservative thereafter.

It's almost as if the question is not a pure dichotomy, and compromise is not only possible, but reasonable and workable.

But that can't be right; because you are either a baby killer or the Taliban. There's not supposed to be a middle ground.

 

[credoconsolans]

Conservative. A woman having to ask the government for permission to have a medical procedure is very conservative and that they have the right to investigate and pass judgement on her request is extremely conservative.

I agree.

It is also very liberal. A woman having the right to do as she pleases in the first 18 weeks would be completely unacceptable to conservatives in the US.

So it is both - liberal up to 18 weeks, and conservative thereafter.

It's almost as if the question is not a pure dichotomy, and compromise is not only possible, but reasonable and workable.

But that can't be right; because you are either a baby killer or the Taliban. There's not supposed to be a middle ground.

Abortion rights politics have turned it into - at least publicly - an either or situation with no middle ground.

But realistically, even the majority of anti-choicers agree that a woman who has been made pregnant by rape or whose fetus is endangering her life has the right to get an abortion. That this conflicts directly with their core belief and claim that all babies deserve life and to abort them is murder, is just more of their typical hypocrisy. Point it out to them and they get huffy about it. So there is some gray areas still

 

[fromderinside]

Given that up to 30% of pregnancies abort in the first trimester, the first month actually, the 18 week rule is neither liberal or conservative. Freedom being what it is, any government agency that intercedes is suspect and therefore quite conservative in a practical (father's right and religion and all that) sense and liberal in a jurist sense.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I don't like the asking permission bit--that's just asking for delay problems. As much as possible the reasons should be codified, ask only if you feel it's warranted but the rules don't cover it.

Also, I would invert the permission bit. You apply, if they don't give a good reason to say no within a week it's treated as a yes. (Note that I would apply this to most government actions, albeit with time limits relevant to the issue at hand. You don't have to wait and wait for them to answer, they have to do their job promptly.)

 

[lpetrich]

It would be on the liberal side by American standards, because it fully allows early abortion. I think that US pro-choicers fight very hard on late abortions because they don't want to give the anti-abortionists a foot in the door. Furthermore, the anti-abortionists want to outlaw it outright rather than allow it only for medical necessity, something that I think that many pro-choicers would likely agree to.

The World's Abortion Laws and  Abortion law have lots of stuff on abortion laws in most nations.

 

[skepticalbip]

It depends on who is asked. Some in the US would see it as extremely conservative and restrictive and some would see it as extremely liberal and permissive. If you are asking about law, it depends on the State. Although that law is fairly close to the laws in many States, some States allow the pregnant woman to opt for an abortion without seeking permission in the ninth month of pregnancy.